James from the wine group

Yellow Tail is an Australian wine brand that, since its humble and insignificant first beginnings back in 2001, has grown to become one of the top-performing brands within the business. What is the best way to help a “new” Australian brand conquer the American wine market and then export its wines into Japan as well as the UK?

This case study is designed to find out how a modest brand became an important player in the world of wine, particularly in the USA, thanks to a smart marketing strategy. The case study of Yellow Tail shows that, at times, the most intriguing cases of strategic branding can be based on the process of learning the best way to develop a winning brand, starting from beginning to finish.

The story of the brand

Yellow Tail is a brand that was established in the year 2001 2001 by the Casella family from Sicily, who moved to New South Wales, Australia, in 1957. The family purchased vineyards in 1965 and also an establishment for wine in the year 1969. The family decided to create a brand named “Yellow Tail” with a distinctive positioning of the brand. The family’s vineyards did not enjoy the same acclaim as those in Europe. This is the reason why the family couldn’t try to compete with the same group of wine enthusiasts. Thus, Casella chose not to challenge French and Italian wines based on attributes like quality, complexity, or prestige of the vineyard. Instead, they portrayed their wine as enjoyable and accessible and targeted a new kind of wine-loving consumer.

The Yellow Tail’s advertising strategy for marketing is also called”the “Blue Ocean” strategy

In their research paper, Kim & Mauborgne explained the way in which Yellow Tail used what they refer to as a “Blue Ocean Strategy,” which is the act of getting out of the market overcrowded (a red ocean in which sharks are all fighting each the other) and then diving into a blue sea where there’s no competition. The oceans that are in question are markets, which means that in the blue oceans, demand gets generated instead of fought over. How was Yellow Tail able to start swimming in the Blue Ocean? In the words of The Wine Economist, it is because it’s not only wine, however, but a brand new kind of wine industry. It was also able to determine and meet the demands of a particular and unique market within the US through the four-step model in the Blue Ocean Strategy, as employed to aid in the creation of value-based innovation. The analysis below was located within the article.

Yellow Tail’s positioning for its brand and market of target for the US wine industry

The first goal of Yellow Tail was not to rival top wines. The quality of the wine isn’t the same, despite the fact that Yellow Tail was awarded several awards like Jimmy Watson and Stodart in 2004. The thing that Yellow Tail chose to accomplish instead was to make wines that consumers would buy because it is delicious without thinking about the complex rules for purchasing wine. Kim and Maurborgne wrote in their books that “instead of offering wine as wine, Casella created a social drink accessible to everyone: beer drinkers, cocktail drinkers, and other drinkers of non-wine beverages.” The Yellow Tail is drinkable and easy to pick, enjoyable, exciting, and fun. It’s a unique twist on a well-known drink. It’s delicious and is perfect for all-day occasions, showcasing the Australian lifestyle with its flamboyant but relaxed image that is flush with excitement and enjoyment.

The development of a smart Marketing Mix

This unique positioning in the world of wines is illustrated by all four Ps in marketing: Product price promotion, location, and product.

Product

The story of success for Yellow Tail is first derived from its strategy for innovation in the product. The brand provides wine made without acid and tannins to attract consumers who don’t enjoy wine or do not consume it. This is around 85% of people in America. Yellow Tail developed a wine that is smooth and sweet and just as easy to drink as cocktails and beers that are ready to drink. This resulted in a drinkable wine that didn’t require years of experience in order to build an understanding of it. In addition, for confusion to be avoided, customers can choose to start with the Red Shiraz or a White Chardonnay. In addition, the wine is ready to drink immediately, so there’s no need to store it in costly wine cellars or underground cellars to preserve the wine. This can also simplify the consumption process! Apart from tasting distinctive and being easy to pick and take in, Yellow Tail developed other characteristics that make its drink appealing for people who do not drink wine:

Packaging

The packaging was designed using “no wine jargon.” The brand understood that many customers feel intimidated by traditional wine bottles covered with elitist and sophisticated wine terminology that is often not very easy to understand. Therefore, the idea was to design simple and unintimidating packaging with unpretentious text and vibrant colors. Consumers are able to see the names of grape varietals, which is crucial for American consumers, and it is displayed on the label, which is simple and features an orange Kangaroo with a black backdrop. The company was also among the first to utilize the same packaging on bottles for both white and red wines, which enabled the company to simplify the buying and manufacturing process. These wines clearly labeled stood out from the vast selection of wines that were intimidating and bottles that were similarly designed and packed with complicated terms.

Promotion/Place

While large wineries developed their brand names over a long period of costly marketing campaigns, Yellow Tail managed to lead in the market without any promotional efforts either through mass media or advertising above the line. Instead, the brand was promoted in-store by organizing innovative events. For instance, the company utilized the services of staff members from the retail store who were ambassadors for the brand and were at ease marketing such a basic wine composition. The brand also organized wine-tasting events for customers to get acquainted with and taste the wine. In addition, the brand’s innovative packaging lets the brand create a distinctive and identifiable “brand block” in-store that distinguishes itself from the traditional White Labels of competition, Sorted by countries in alphabetical order, by country, or sorted by grape varieties. 

Results and Conclusion

With this innovative and well-planned marketing strategy, In just one year, the company sold one million bottles across the US and far surpassed the expected 25,000 sales. Kim and Maurborgne wrote the story in their publication that over just about two years, Yellow Tail became the most popular wine brand to grow across the US, and, in 2003, it was the most popular red wine sold in the 750ml bottle that was sold across the US. Yellow Tail went on to be ranked as the most powerful family-owned wine label according to the year 2012 Power 100 report by British consultancy firm Intangible Business.

Yellow Tail has learned how to stand out in a market that is not well-known by creating value and distinguishing it from its well-known competitors. This is an excellent illustration of innovative strategies that take the needs of consumers into account.

Yellow Tail managed to become an industry leader in the wine industry through the creation of new business opportunities. It did not steal the market; it just created an entirely new market. The brand’s success can be explained by the effective use of marketing tools as well as innovative products and other aspects; it was an intimate family affair. The business allied with a local US distributor of wine and demanded high-quality irrigation methods in their vineyards.