Datelines asia - Brief Article

How do you tell Asian decision-makers in the wine business that one of the world's largest selling single labels has gone up-market? If you are a marketing executive with the large Australian Orlando-Wyndham conglomerate, you round up 18 Japanese wine food and lifestyle journalists, Hong Kong publishers, Malaysian businessmen and Thai reporters, take them into the vastness of the Outback, and turn them loose on a camel.

It seems to work.

The imaginative promotion has sparked deep interest in the new Jacob's Creek reserve label. The basic Jacob's Creek vintages sell four million cases a year. About 75% of that is exported; the biggest market traditionally is Britain which takes more than half.

But the Adelaide-based company sees future markets in Asia where their sales last year soared 26% in Japan and Singapore. Since it was first made in 1976, Jacob's Creek has become an Australian wine icon. The red began as a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Malbec, a typically Australian soft dry red.

In 1990, exports had increased to 343,000 cases. Last year, chief winemaker Philip Laffer says he has forecast sales of 3,487,000 cases. By 2003, that will rise to 5.3 million cases, he predicts.

It all sells. But it's left company sales and marketing executives with a dilemma; once people have enjoyed Jacob's Creek with its typical fruity character, where do they go? Laffer says they wish to head for higher-quality wines. So he has been developing a reserve label which will sell, typically, for about double the AUD$10 (US$6) that the basic Jacob's Creek costs at the local Australian supermarket. This will give wine lovers some upward movement, giving them a wine of higher quality that is still quintessentially Australian.

But how do you explain to the new markets in Asia that Jacob's Creek Reserve at double the price of the regular label is a good buy?

Executives headed by the group's regional manager for Asia, Andrew Cudmore, and the company's corporate spokesman, Joe Mellis, escorted the Asian party to the Barossa Valley winery on the banks of Jacob's Creek, where a German migrant first planted grapes in 1847.

Laffer produced the soon to be released 1999 vintage and then invited his guests to use four bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz from different regions and vineyards to try to match his blend. The winner was a Japanese wine merchant.

The program took them to the vineyards, where in late March the wine writers and fashion designers from Japan picked the final Shiraz grapes still on the vines.

Orlando executives claim their Asian Harvest tour will reap ample benefits. Flying their guests 2,000 kilometers north into the arid heart of Australia, the Orlando team led a journey on camel around Ayres Rock, then hosted a dinner under the desert stars featuring emu sausage, minced camel and kangaroo steaks. It was washed down, of course, by Jacob's Creek's new reserve.

"This isn't merely a jaunt for a drink," insisted Andrew Cudmore. "It's a serious educational and marketing tool."

Some of the Japanese magazines represented on the trip sell millions of copies and are targeted directly at the young, fashion-conscious drinkers who are turning seriously to wine.

FOOTNOTE: Australian wine exports last year were about 33.5 million cases. The Australian Wine Federation estimates that by 2025, that will rise to 66.9 million cases. So while Australia now faces a shortage of quality red wine for export, that will change in the near future. Which is why Orlando Wyndham takes Asian decision makers out on camels in the desert.

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