How to market wine... without mentioning wine

This article is part of our digital feature on wine

How do you go about marketing wine when there’s a strict alcohol policy law in place? Paul Houlding from creative agency Isobel reveals his secrets…

So, here’s the challenge. You have to come up with a global advertising campaign for one of the most prestigious wine brands in the world. It has to be a highly effective campaign in all countries, not just a few. It has to be motivating to consumers but it also has to make the wine producers proud. And it has to be cracking creative to boot.

What a wonderful challenge, I hear you say. Until you come across the Loi Évin. Yes, Loi Évin. Ring any bells? Well, for those of you who haven’t heard of it, it is the alcohol policy law restricting what you can say or do in advertising in France. And basically you can’t do much at all.

The list of red tape is restrictive and extensive. You can’t so much as hint that wine might be enjoyable in either words or pictures, you can’t encourage people in any way to buy or drink it. You can’t show people, unless they are part of the production of the wine, and of course you have to carry the obligatory ‘alcohol can be harmful’ warning. You get the gist. And frankly it’s a bit of a blocker.

It’s enough of a challenge if you are looking just to create a campaign for France, but if you are looking to create one campaign for the world including France then the challenge goes to the next level. So, what do you do? Well, this was the challenge we faced with Bordeaux Wines.

It was briefly tempting to create a campaign for the rest of the world, where regulations are much less stringent, and then run a ‘reduced’ version in France. But, given the importance and status of Bordeaux within France that was never really an option. Really good agencies are problem solvers. The bigger the problem, the more ingenuity and skill is required to solve it. That’s our job and that’s what we enjoy.

You can’t so much as hint that wine might be enjoyable in either words or pictures, you can’t encourage people in any way to buy or drink it

So we tackled the problem the same way we tackle everything. Head on. Let’s not bleat about what we can’t do but embrace what we can.

We already had a very clear understanding of our target audience worldwide, we already had identified our big brand idea and we had done our homework on Bordeaux in spades. The groundwork had been done, we just needed a bit of creative magic. 

The result? A campaign that simply states the truth about Bordeaux wines but is done in a way that is creatively engaging. The campaign is intelligent and the work smacks of craft. It’s the same campaign that runs in all markets and is loved (and used) by the winemakers and producers themselves. And to cap it all, the regulators rather like it too.

Sometimes, the best results come from the most logical starting point. If you work in a highly regulated environment don’t pretend the issues don’t exist, embrace them and use them to your advantage. As every creative knows, the best campaigns often come from the tightest of briefs. It won’t be easy but you will certainly surprise yourself with what you can achieve.

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Isobel is an independent and award-winning advertising and content agency that specialises in supercharging brands. Based in the heart of London, the team helps brands to find their purpose and voice and then injects them with an infectious energy to drive tangible returns. Its current clients include Bordeaux Wines, Maoam, Danepak, Hammerson, Prezzo, Savills, Kelly’s Ice Cream and David Lloyd.