A common marketing ploy these days is to genderise – or apply gender specific packaging and branding – to consumer products.
Why wouldn’t they too? Genderisation starts before we are born with “blue for boys, pink for girls” messages being so strong. It’s familiar.
Often genderised products are more expensive so they are more profitable.
See this clip from The Checkout TV show.
This does not mean gendered products are right, good, or helpful.
The wine industry isn’t immune to genderisation either.
Recently the marketeers have released wine products that target both male consumers and female consumers.
Male Consumer Targeted Wine
Lindeman’s recently released a range of wines called The Gentleman’s Collection. I reviewed one of them here on the Willunga Wino blog.
I would have thought the typical male stereotype for wine would big big, bold, dry table reds. Interestingly, these wines then are all very sweet. This is partially due to the addition of unspecified fortified.
In fact, there is much left a mystery about these wines. Sure, mysteries can be fun – are there UFO’s? Why do they make jars so hard to open? Should I eat this sandwich? Mysteries all. These Gentlemen keep little secrets too, for you to ponder over. Just how much fortified is added? What kind of fortified is it? And what regions do these wines come from?
Strangely, they all remain at 14.5% alcohol, which would hint at the addition of grape juice concentrate more so than much fortified. These sweet wines are available in range of four wines, Shiraz, Cab Sauv, Red Blend and Chardonnay.
Lindeman’s Gentleman’s Collection Shiraz 2014. Photo: WIllunga Wino
Female Consumer Targeted Wine
The new cab off the rank.
Treasury Wine Estate the wine company behemoth that gobbles up well known brands that hit the wall or are for sale at the right price have put together a team of 7 women to come up with their new “wine for women” brand.
The male chief executive at Treasury said that the brand hoped to recognise how multifaceted women are.
Yeah, right.
That must be why the range has just “typical chick drinks” of rose and pinot gris.
What’s the bet that they are off dry or even sweet?
It just feels wrong to me.
Why Are Genderised Wines So Wrong?
1. Wine is for everyone
Excuse me, I thought I could purchase & enjoy any wine I like.
Up until the marketeers got a hold of it, wines were not invented to be only for men or only for women. Wine was for everyone. Any wine at all, was for anyone.
By creating gendered wine stereotypes, do we run the risk of the stereotypes becoming increasingly reinforced? Self fulfilling prophecies?
Do we also exclude and discourage some consumers from trying something new, developing their palates, and looking outside the square?
2. Reinforces Boring Stereotypes
By splitting wine consumers along gendered lines, they are by nature non-specific, as they attempt to target 50% of the market. Stereotypes are boring. The old nugget is that women like moscato and men like big, bold Shiraz and Cab Sauv. What rot. There is a whole lot more subtle variation than that.
Boredom breeds more boring. We don’t need homogenisation of wine lest it lose its’ magic and the wonderful variety available to us.
3. Underestimates Wine Consumers
Can consumers be neatly split into men and women?
Plenty of men love rose. Plenty of women enjoy cabernet sauvignon. Expecting to divide and conquer consumer dollars is naive if it is done along gender lines.
Trump proved that gender arguments don’t win elections. I’m sceptical that gender alignment would win over the serious wine consumer. I’m hopeful that there are more and more educated wine consumers with more adventurous palates.
Though perhaps there are enough “middle Australia” consumers for this approach to be a hit for the marketeers. Time will tell if the average consumer goes for these gendered wine products or not. And if they do, what could that mean for the wider wine market?
So, do we need to genderise wine?
Well beer has recently been through the same marketing dilemma. What can we learn from our friends the brewers?
In a recent article, Beer writer Melissa Cole was quoted as saying: “We do not need to make beer for women, we need to make beer more accessible for women.”
Jane Peyton, beer sommelier, and principal of the School of Booze said: “If brewers want to encourage more women to drink beer they should not treat women as one market or assume that women want to drink something light with little flavour. Instead of inventing a brand specifically for women, brewers should spend money on marketing beer as a gender neutral beverage that is a drink for everyone.”
Here, here!
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So, what do you think about gendered wine? Have your say below – comments make my day!
Totally agree wine (and all alcohol) shouldn’t be genderised. Related – whenever we are out and hubby orders a Lemon Lime & Bitters and I order a beer, the wait staff pretty much always give him the beer at the table not me! #OpenSlather
Di from Max The Unicorn
Hi Max! YES sometimes my hubby has a white wine and I have the beer, it is never served that way though. We all know what assumptions do 😉 Thanks for popping by. Cheers, Louise@WillungaWino.com
It is terrible that they genderise wine. That really winds me up. It comes across as patronising. There is absolutely no reason at all for it. Well done for highlighting the issue. Alison x #mg
Hi Alison! Yes it is so patronising. Ugh. I hope it doesn’t turn into a marketing trend! Appreciate your kind words and thanks for popping by! Cheers, Louise
Why do they need to genderize wines? This seems a bit odd. Thanks for linking up for Wordless Wednesday.
Hi Cascia! They’re effectively cutting out 50% of the market by doing it – so it’s not even good business sense! Cheers, Louise
It is funny to think of this actually, is there a need to genderise wine? I find it funny and irritating too.
Well there’s no need – it’s all about the marketing and the opportunity for profit. But it can’t be good business, because you’re chopping your Market in half! Thanks for dropping by. Cheers, Louise
I have to take more notice at the bottlo, because I didn’t realise that wine was being gendered. I just go for what I can afford, not necessarily what is on the label. Funnily enough, last weeks purchases were Lindemans, 4 for $20!
Marketing types need to learn from earlier campaigns that failed dismally e.g marketing a particular small car just for women ( obviously those big cars are much to hard for a woman to handle!) and the men who decided women “needed” a certain type of pen that was pink and “fit comfortably in a woman’s hand” , the backlash for Bic was incredible, and yet men who are in advertising STILL think that gender marketing is an avenue to explore. Well I for one will choose according to what takes my fancy whether it is marketed to men women or children !!! Lets drink to that ! Cheers
Interesting post! I only drink red but also drink beer. Never white – so I fail on the wine gender thing. Opps. As for “Wine is for everyone!” sounds like a great mantra….
It’s something I had not considering genderising wine – why – I drink anything.
Exactly, Trish! That is the beauty of wine. It’s for everybody. Until the marketeers get in the way. Cheers, Louise
I didn’t even know they gendered wine, how ridiculous!
It doesn’t make sense at all to me to go down this route. But I guess marketers need an angle right?
The funny thing is – a gendered approach has failed miserably for beer! Hard to see it being successful for wine. Will watch & wait! Cheers, Louise
really enjoyed the clip you included it makes it so obvious how we are taken advantage of. I celebrated my birthday in July with a girls night at home, I went around before the party trying to gauge what people wanted to drink so I hate the right wine, it was such a mix, an dI needed up with more white wine left at the end of the night. Really interesting post! Thanks for sharing #mg
The Checkout is such a great show! Love those Chaser guys. Your party is a perfect example of why there’s no need for genderising wine! We’re all diverse and can’t be put into a marketing box. Thanks so much for commenting Mackenzie! Cheers, Louise
Just popping back to let you know you will be featured on my next #mg Link Up post as this post was my fav from last week! Thanks again for linking it up!
Hooray! ? Thank you Mackenzie, I appreciate it a lot ?