Longview Vineyard is a family owned and operated winery in the town of Macclesfield in the Adelaide Hills. It has established itself as one of the most awarded vineyards in the region.

Longview has been reinvigorated by the Saturno family who invested into the established winery in 2001. They realised that it was time to give the existing labels which were common and uninspiring a new look, as they thought that their dated packaging could not survive in such a highly competitive industry. Longview decided to redesign their entire range of packaging with the aim of portraying a message of quality and uniqueness and increasing sales amongst their 25-45 year old target audience.

Each distinctly shaped bottle has a unique illustration which draws on the personality and the name of the wine. This is consistent throughout the range, giving them a common appearance yet each one remains distinctive. These illustrations each tell a story behind the wine. This gives the bottles more depth and creates an interest for the consumers, drawing them into the region and allowing them to seek out more information about the brand.

Longview was rewarded for their new packaging as results showed a massive increase in sales. The new labels were engaging and different from their competitors as they stood out. The total sales in 2008-2009 were 9,879 cases domestically across 31 different labels. After the repackaging, domestic sales have increased to 14,787 cases across 17 different labels. They also expanded their exportation to 8 markets, previously 1, increasing international sales to over 6,000 cases. Their new, fresh and vibrant labels enabled them to become a more desired brand.

The first Weis bars were developed by Cyrill Weis in 1936 based on the concept of using natural ingredients, fresh fruits and ice cream. It wasn’t until 1957 that his son Les sold the iconic Fruito bar commercially in Toowoomba Queensland that distribution quickly expanded through the city and interstate making it’s way to becoming a national ice cream brand. Over the decades, the brand has had many packaging designs with the most recent in 2011.

With the ice cream market being extremely competitive, the Weis multipacks needed have enough visual appeal to be highly noticeable and connect to the target consumers and encourage them to try the product. The repositioning of the brand had to also incorporate the values of the brand and convey these messages clearly and concisely. The packaging designs had to be strong and focused on ‘real fruit and real ingredients’ to stand out amongst the cluttered market and promotional activity of other mainstream brands competing in the same space.

The red Weis logo is more dominant and visible on the new packaging design. This creates stronger brand recognition and recall. An abundance of fresh fruit was used as a visual to highlight the natural ingredients as the key selling point. The packaging uses bold colours for each of the corresponding fruits and reflects the intensity of each distinctive fruity flavour. The use of these colours also increases the visibility of the different varieties available on the shelves.

The result of the redesign has been positive for the growth of the brand. Sales have increased by 32% with no advertising support.

There are several factors that make up the life force for an effective brand, whether personal or corporate. Starting from the colors you utilise to the aspects you seek to emphasize, there are a lot of elements that must be managed. Unfortunately, this often results in some of the most important and valuable questions being overlooked. As you build a brand, ask yourself this essential question: Does my brand speak to my target market?

Isn’t it obvious when you think about it? You’d be surpassed how many professionals have devoted time, money and energy into creating a dynamic brand only to realize that their audience doesn’t appreciate it.

How can you be sure to avoid this brand misstep? Here are three tips to help you along the way:

1. Analyse the competition.
As you begin to build your brand, start by examining the competition. Successful businesses can serve as a good frame of reference, while less successful competitors should typically be considered examples of what not to do. From selecting colors to creating a brand tagline, start by taking note of what works and what doesn’t in your field.

2. Communicate common customer challenges.
What is the core problem you are seeking to solve for your clients and customers? Are you going to provide trusted legal advice? Are you going to give your customers perfect vision through surgery that has eluded them for years? Identify the central solutions you and your business will provide, and pivot your brand around them.

3. Reiterate your value.
Why should a potential customer pay attention to you? How are you going to change their lives for the better? The answer can be complex or simple—but you need to have an answer. If your brand doesn’t give your audience a reason to pay attention, they won’t. Identify your unique selling points and work it into your brand.

Successful branding is much more than a slick logo or a robust media strategy. In fact, you can invest millions into a brand and still miss the mark completely—if you don’t start with the fundamental goal of creating a brand that speaks to your audience.

At the core, your organisation’s Brand is a reflection of the actions and beliefs of the people who work there. Those actions and beliefs are shaped and directed by the core values they hold. So before you start trying to give your brand a shiny new makeover, ask a question sure to generate some long-term results – “Do our core values and our Brand align?”

Core Values in Action
When your Brand is connected to the core values of your organisation, consistent delivery of the Brand meshes seamlessly with the existing behavior and belief. Indeed, in this situation what customers expect is what they get, strengthening perception; employees don’t feel they are being asked to deliver something they don’t believe, further reinforcing the values and creating a upward spiral of motivation and belief.

The Volvo Case Study
Consider Volvo. From the outset the founders held safety as a fundamental core value (see below diagram) – “An automobile is driven by people. Safety is and must be the basic principle in all design work.” From that point forward safety has been continually embedded in the design ethic, work practices and Brand. It is so woven into the fabric of the organisation and it’s Brand that it is impossible to think of Volvo separate from safety.

The Facebook phenomenon has the marketing world abuzz. Understandably too, as this social media giant has risen to be the most influential of all online social media, and has aptly been described as “word of mouth on steroids.” Yet how much real influence does Facebook have when statistics show that fewer than 1% of brand fans on Facebook have any type of active involvement, and links to brands that are shared reach only 5-10 people?

In contrast to these meagre stats, new research from Ed Keller and Brad Fay’s ‘The Face to Face Book – Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace’ found that 90% of word-of-mouth conversations about brands take place offline, primarily face-to-face, in people’s homes and offices, in restaurants and stores, really anywhere people congregate. These conversations bring with them greater credibility, authenticity, a greater desire to share with others, and a great likelihood to purchase the products being discussed than conversations that take place online.

Today’s consumer marketplace is highly social, but not because of particular platforms or technologies. The businesses that will be the most successful in the future are the ones that embrace a model that puts people– rather than technology – at the center of products, campaigns and market strategies. Those who achieve the greatest success will recognize that there are many ways to tap the power of today’s social consumer.

The great social wave is an opportunity that no business can afford to ignore or look at myopically. It’s happening all around us – and to the continuing surprise of many, it’s mostly happening face-to-face.