Cases
Multi-plant collaboration executes high-end wine vision
Founded in 2020 by two seasoned wine industry veterans, Beyond Wines was created with a unique selling proposition. Armed with a keen understanding of consumer preferences, the company forms partnerships with key producers around the world to offer wines that are relevant to customers across all channels. One of their first projects was the launch of a brand called Liquid Diamond, targeted toward the social media savvy 18–35-year-old market, and sparing no expense to provide a stunning package.
“We know that most shoppers buy first with their eyes…our extensive market research told us that consumers are happy to spend a premium but in return want to be ‘wowed’ by the packaging,” commented co-founder Alex Green.
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A challenging vision
The vision for the label was the utmost in luxury and elegance, boasting a 3-D resin diamond moulded to the bottle. Technically, this would be one of the biggest challenges that the MCC team has undertaken. Not only did the shape and material of the label provide potential for application issues, but the wine was also being bottled by contract packers in two different countries – the UK and Italy. It was crucial to have understanding and support from the packers to assure the label would be applied properly. In addition, any trials performed in Italy, also had to be suitable to work, when trialled in the UK. All of these factors combined to make it a rigorous and challenging puzzle for the MCC teams.
Technical expertise
In preparation for the launch, MCC Daventry and MCC Italy created multiple stage mock-ups, ensuring the final look was exactly what the customer envisioned. The mock-ups were crucial in the development of the diamond, and the team ended up working with the designers to re-create the illustration to help with the final graphic.
Once the design was finalized, it was time for the MCC team to address the application considerations. Humidity and temperature are important factors that need to be considered, because of the effect on the label’s flexibility and tack. The first trial was run in Italy during the middle of winter and was unsuccessful. The cold stiffened the labels and they were unable to be applied without issues. The team in Italy then had the idea to add a metallic border to the diamond, providing additional adhesive space beyond the resin. Not only was the idea technically sound and solved the application issues, but the effect was visually stronger, and the customer preferred it. The time and effort that went into trials and alterations early on paid off. The labels passed without issue when trialled by the customer in the UK, ensuring the bottlers could run at full speed and not delay the product getting to market.
We have worked with MCC very closely over the last 6-8 months while designing Liquid Diamond. Their help and expertise have been invaluable. They had the time and skills to really make this something special and were on our side from day one. For me, a brand has to look great as well as taste great, for a consumer to buy into it. MCC really helped deliver that for our customers.
Alex Green, Co-founder, Beyond Wines