Georgia has the oldest unbroken wine making tradition in the world. Their national identity is deeply associated with great wine, hospitality, and gastronomy. Despite this rich heritage, Georgian wine was not known in the UK, and had limited distribution.

Swirl Wine Group was chosen by the National Wine Agency of Georgia to devise and run their first integrated UK campaign in 2017.  We worked with the agency to develop and deliver a cohesive campaign to raise the prestige, profile and awareness of Georgian wines in the UK market, and to increase their availability and distribution.

We also worked with contacts in tourism, culture and gastronomy to broaden our reach, and liaised with our counterparts in China, the USA and Poland to ensure consistency and maximise their budget. 

We continue to work with the National Wine Agency of Georgia on Georgian Wine UK in 2018.

OUR MISSION:

  • Position Georgian Wines with an engaging identity and consistent message
  • Raise awareness of, and demand for Georgian wine as a fine wine terroir
  • Support producers in building strategic distribution and profitable sales
  • Create compelling content for all channels
  • Achieve expanded and rich coverage of Georgian wine in trade and consumer media

WHAT WE DID

  • Advised on an innovation strategy for Georgian wines
  • Delivered a training program for Georgian winemakers to empower them to succeed in the UK market. The program was delivered by Sarah Abbott MW and Robert Joseph, and included a guide to market channels, distribution chain and pricing, profiles of the most important buyers and influencers, and 1 to 1 consultancy on wine style and packaging
  • Held a series of trade and press tastings that were well attended by important buyers and journalists
  • Supported Georgian wine producers at further consumer and trade fairs in London and Bordeaux, namely REAL Wine Fair, London Wine Fair and Expo Georgie at Cité du Vin
  • Developed content for all channels, and established key messages
  • Created and hosted a UK optimized website, with regular high quality content
  • Created a strategic image library
  • Provided a Trade & Press Office for responding to queries and sending out samples and wine information
  • Developed social media strategy and content, and ran the accounts
  • Took a group of journalists to Georgia on a thoughtfully compiled itinerary
  • Liaised regularly with all stakeholders to maximise the press and sales opportunities for Georgian wine importers

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

COVERAGE
Achieved extensive national coverage in trade and consumer press in all the major titles including; the Evening Standard, The Buyer, Decanter, Drinks Business, Meiningers Wine Business International and National BBC Radio

PRESTIGIOUS LISTINGS
Listings in 12 Michelin starred & fine dining restaurants

DISTRIBUTION
Increased distribution in prestige on-trade and independents

PROFILE RAISING
Raised profile of Georgian wine through dedicated Georgianwine.uk website and @Georgianwineuk social accounts

GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS PACK
The copy written by us was adopted by the Prime Minister’s office as the basis for global communications about Georgian wine

NEW IMPORTERS
6 new importers are now working with Georgian wine

BRAND PRESENCE
The UK market now has an increased diversity of Georgian wine styles available, including  Amber, Dry Red, Aromatic White, and Sweet Red

SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT
Increase on all Social Media channels, Facebook content is being read and shared across markets. UK, France, Georgia, Japan and the US

PRESS

TESTIMONIAL

“In 2017, we launched a full-scale marketing program to build the Georgian Wine brand on the UK market. The program is led by Sarah and her company on the ground. I must say that she has prepared a very thought-through and comprehensive campaign which already started to bear fruit in this very short term. The UK is a very sophisticated wine market and her expertise is already having impact on Georgian wine producers. Besides all of the above, she is a fantastic personality…which was one of the features to make us decide to have her as the ambassador of Georgian Wines in the UK.”