By James Atkinson
The updated Jacob’s Creek insignia (pictured left) better represents the brand’s modern day status as an innovative, experimental wine producer, according to owner Pernod Ricard Winemakers.
Jacob’s Creek formally launched the new insignia yesterday evening at a special function held at The Island bar on Sydney Harbour, having first unveiled the logo to media at the Australian Open tennis last month.
Pernod Ricard Winemakers brand PR manager, Ruth Harris, said the decision to change a logo that had already proven successful for 37 years had not been taken lightly, with consumer research conducted in Australia, UK, USA, Canada and China.
“We actually had a resoundingly positive response to the new insignia and in fact our consumers reported it was easier to find on the shelf,” she said.
Pernod Ricard's Kelly Suhr, Louis Cheng and Anne Martin in Sydney yesterday
Harris said the new branding pays proper heed to the heritage of Jacob’s Creek and its Barossa Valley origins.
“We also thought the brand needed to slightly contemporise, and because of all the innovations we’ve had in recent years, we really needed something visual that would really tie all the brands together,” she said.
Chief winemaker Bernard Hickin said the Jacob’s Creek offering had evidently moved a long way beyond the Australian staples of Cabernet, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Riesling. [continues below]
Bernard Hickin addresses media in Melbourne
Hickin introduced the many new additions of recent years, including the lower alcohol Cool Harvest range, the “unashamedly sweet” Twin Pickings wines, the Earth Vine Grape organic wines, as well as Wah and Lamoon, the new wines specifically tailored respectively to Japanese and Thai cuisine.
“I think it’d be fair to say that ten or 12 years ago the Jacob’s Creek range was a fairly traditional range, arguably not that innovative in terms of new wine styles etcetera,” Hickin said.
“We really believe that the future for Jacob’s Creek as a brand in markets around the world is to tap into where the consumer is going and to come up with new styles of wine and new varieties.”