Winter is on its way, but South African wine brand Two Oceans says summer doesn’t have to end in Ontario.
The company is launching its Moscato variety in the province with its #SipOnSummer campaign. Moscato is traditionally viewed as a summer varietal, so the idea is to show the wine can be enjoyed year-round and to prepare the brand for a larger integrated launch next spring, says Brenda Wylie, country brand manager at parent company Distell Canada, which produces and markets the wine brand.
To extend summer, the company ran a guerilla marketing campaign in late September, in which a Moscato-branded truck encased in glass and featuring a beach theme inside, toured the city. The truck toured several areas of Toronto including downtown, Beaches and university campuses and parts of the GTA, such as Mississauga and Port Credit. Additional tour dates are scheduled for December and next spring.
People who took photographs with the truck can upload their images on Instagram and win prize packs. On Facebook, people can win prizes by uploading comments about favourite summer activities they continue to do in winter.
The campaign will include 15 and 30 second video spots on Facebook and YouTube that capture consumer reaction as the truck rolled around Toronto.
Sampling programs are also planned for LCBO outlets across Ontario.
“The idea is we just want to be able to keep it top of mind through the winter,” Wylie says.
The launch has been handled by Toronto-based agency Your Brand Integrated Marketing Communications and its YBVocal public relations and media relations division. Your Brand has worked with Two Oceans since 2011.
Two Oceans has been available in Canada for about 20 years, and 11 varieties are now distributed in the country with Sauvignon Blanc the leading SKU.
Moscato has been available in Alberta and Nova Scotia for about a year and Two Oceans plans to expand the varietal’s distribution across Canada.
Wylie says the wine’s $9.95 pricing for a 750 mL bottle of Moscato in Ontario should pay off. “There’s not a lot of Moscatos that fall into that price point so we think there’s some competitive advantage for being able to do that.”
