Branding Lessons from the Canned Wine Industry

Wine, as a traditional industry, has to fight against the unapproachable connotation that newer drinkers often fear. From a flexibility and commitment standpoint, other forms of alcohol can be more approachable (at least on the surface). But this is exactly where the canned wine industry seems to have found its sweet spot.

What I find particularly exciting about canned wine is that it seems to be filling a very unique void: it’s an olive branch to invite people to easily begin their wine journey, but still offers high-quality offerings for those with a refined palate. The introduction of canned wine is allowing consumers to take control of how they discover wines they like — and who doesn’t love being in charge of their own story?

Safeway Selection of canned wine offerings

One of the ways that I believe that canned wine is absolutely crushing at inviting people to explore a new vessel for wine consumption is their branding. It’s obvious that the canned wines on a shelf invoke an enticing combination of familiarity, confusion, and daring excitement. Why?

• Cans are familiar — people already drink out of them.
• Cans are portable — you don’t have to worry about glass breaking or cups to drink out of.
• Cans seem cost-effective — price-point wise, it seems like a good way to taste a wine without overcommitting (but as Rachel, The Wine Nerd, shows, you’re actually getting a lot of wine in a single can!).
• Cans seem anti-wine establishment — your mom is not going to reach for a can of wine.

So, what are the key things canned wine is doing well in branding?

• Selfie-approved artwork: While you may roll your eyes at this, making a can that is photogenic is important. Unlike bottles, people are more likely to drink directly from the can rather than pouring it into a glass. If they take and share a picture with that can — instant marketing! House Wine has done an excellent job of this — their artwork and branding is simple, large, and colorful (they did a can for Pride AND donated part of the proceeds to the Human Right Campaigns!).
• Leaning into millennial-approved colors: In my research, I noticed a lot of white and pink cans. I know it’s summer, so that may influence what’s out, but upon further inspection, it wasn’t just Rosé or whites in those colors, it was all types of wine! Millennial pink has made an impact and its effects are still ripping through the markets. Canned wine brands have been good at leaning into color trends and being very of-the-moment. Bridge Lane Wine offers a fun spread of colors that are a great example of how mixing colors works well in branding.
• Modernized fonts, artwork, and labels: I have a confession: I’m a beer drinker! One of my favorite parts of drinking beer is fawning over beautifully unique can art. With canned wine, good design is nicely showcased. There seems to be “no rules” for these cans, so brands are taking the chance to step away from the image of an old estate with swirly fonts to experiment with colors, fonts, and imagery. Good art catches attention and bold designs make them much more memorable. A great example is Nomadica’s artwork.
• Brand Integrations: Not all of the brands canning their wine are only canned wine producers — many of them also produce bottles! I love the brands, such as JaM Cellars, that have been able to effortlessly showcase all of their offerings under a single label.

With interesting branding and marketing tactics, the canned wine industry, though newly popular, offers valuable insights that traditional wineries can learn from.

Get People to Recall Your Name: Connect relatability to memorability

For those newer to wine, memories are made beyond the taste of the wine. There’s an extra emphasis on the experience of drinking the wine calls back to them.

Younger generations are spending more on experiences since they believe in the value of those experiences. However, it’s important to know that millennials still need items to support these experiences! Why not find ways to bring your brand to a consumer’s experience? Help them pick your brand over and over again, and give them the opportunity to want to grow their wine journey with you, rather than sip you and forget you.

Ways to integrate more relatability to memorability:

• Showcase your wine in more relatable experiences through your marketing. Brands such as Union Wine Co. do a great job of making their wine slide right into your current lifestyle. Leverage influencers or UGC (user generated content) to showcase your brand with a younger demographic and hone in on those relatable experiences. If you feel your brand won’t jive with those “relatable experiences,” showcase younger and more diverse people in your marketing and at your events — a little representation can go a long way.
• Revisit your naming conventions. For newer drinkers, is your label hard to recognize or remember against your competitors? Make it easy for someone to remember your brand. Dare I even suggest offering memorable puns to remember your bottles on your social channels? Insane, I know. But if someone can’t pick your product up in the lineup, then you’re losing an opportunity to convert.

Define the relationship: Get people to commitment to your brand

Millennials and younger generations are consuming less alcohol, so it’s going to be key to win and keep those wine-drinking customers.

It’s a hard fact to face, but it’s something I frequently see when working with wineries: the older generations, your bread & butter, buy a lot. They visit a lot. It’s hard to shift focus from them since they’re so in your face. But, what happens as they, ahem, move on? Or they realize they’re living longer and need to adjust spending habits? You (and everyone else in the industry) are going to scramble to get younger people committed to your brand.

But what if you were already fostering that relationship?

Since a visit to wine country can be out of financial reach for some of the upcoming wine drinkers, savvy brands will focus on bringing the wine to the consumer. If you focus on developing the relationship from when a customer seems unlikely to pay for more than a single bottle at a time, when they’re ready to commit to more, they’re more likely to turn to your brand.

Ways to get people to commit:

• If you can’t offer cans, consider offering smaller bottles or a cost-effective tasting set. Flexibility in a space that can seem so rigid will make you stand out. Canned wine is perceived to be something that’s easy to share and less of a commitment to try. Tapping into the consumer’s “If I don’t like it, it’s easy to get rid of cans, not so easy to get rid of bottles” mentality can make you shine amongst competitors and encourage repeat purchases. While it’s not canned wine, this party pack by Chandon Champagne offers 12 mini bottles and doubles as an ice box — and it’s sold out online. That’s the ultimate flex in offering what the people want.
• Consider “starter” wine clubs. With companies like Winc letting people get quality wine for less than $50 a month, is there any way you can offer a membership that lets people flex or spend according to their needs? A fun example is Una Lou, a rosé canned wine membership that only ships during rosé season, July — October.
• Get your product in front of people who normally can’t make it to your winery. And we’re not talking exclusive-only events. Consider venturing into smaller, more local, community-based bottle shops or wine bars. Getting your wine in more accessible, but still upscale locations, allows people feel like they can try it on their own terms. Union Wine Co. did their research and brought their wine to their audience in a camper van! Letting people feel in control of their wine journey is incredibly empowering.
• Leverage micro-influencers to promote or offer samples of your wine. A good starting point to see how canned wine has benefited from micro-influencer promotion: @cannedwineconnoisseur

Make Money Moves: Don’t let pricing put on blinders on opportunity

“I’m glad I got a taste of this wine because I’m NEVER able to justify a bottle at this price.”

Yikes. I’m sure you’ve heard this before. And, I wouldn’t hold it against if you wrote off those people from making any purchases.

I challenge you to think from the perspective of a consumer. They want to bring a bottle back. They want to buy something “nice” for later. But there are different levels of price justification. Yes, the perfect customer can justify spending big bucks on a bottle they’ll open for any dinner, but is that really how everyone approaches buying your wine?

Your wine is your art. It deserves top dollar. But not every potential loyal client is going to want to spend top dollar for your wine if they can’t think of a reason to take the bottle with them.

I ask you to think about those “middle” milestones. These are events that you want something that’s not typical, but you know you’ll love. But it’s not something you’d bust out a vintage or a very expensive bottle for. These aren’t your collectors, they’re people who want to feel connected to your brand, feel good, and not break the bank.

Ways to let money speak:

• Showcase how people enjoy your wine outside of the winery or a formal event. Make your wine still feel special by showcasing milestones, but make sure you’re using a more middle or lower price point bottle. No one is going to believe that you’re really going to pour a $125 bottle on a picnic by the lake (so some people might do that, but unless that’s your lowest price point, we know you have other options).
• As mentioned above, flexibility and range in pricing is another way to let people taste into your brand, and then allows them to grow with you as their budgets increase.

Don’t ignore canned wine — learn from them!

Is canned wine truly here to stay? It’s too early to tell, but regardless of how long they’re around for, it’s clear that they’re making a big impact in the industry.

By leveraging these takeaways from branding, other wineries can lean into these lessons and modernize their marketing tactics and execution.