Distinctive packaging design reshapes the wine industry
Advertising executive Leo Burnett’s timeless insight,‘Products are made in factories, but brands are created in minds,’ has never rung truer, especially in the world of wine.
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Earlier this year, Vinimark opened the doors of its premises in Klapmuts outside of Cape Town for a Packaging and Innovation Masterclass that brought together creatives, strategists, and storytellers from across the wine world.
The session, led by Vinimark’s wine training and education manager, Ginette de Fleuriot, featured two provocateurs of design thinking: François Rey of graphic design studio, Monday Design and Brenden Schwartz, co-founder of wine brand, Orpheus & The Raven.
Their message was clear: in a market that’s crowded, fast-moving, and increasingly visual, it’s not only your grape variety, terroir, wine quality, or awards that will set you apart. It’s your brand memory: the emotional connection your packaging, positioning, and story create in a split second.
The rise of the distinctive asset
Walk into any bottle store and you’ll see it: shelf upon shelf of beautifully bottled ambition. But amid all that noise, only a few speak with clarity. Why? Because they’ve built what Schwartz called distinctive assets: visual cues that work harder than names and louder than labels.
Think Nike’s swoosh, Coca-Cola’s wave, or the slant of a Johnnie Walker bottle. These are shortcuts to meaning, signposts that say ‘this is who we are’ before a single word is read.
Schwartz reminded the Masterclass attendees that most people can recall only three brands on a shelf, and when recognition drives decision, colour, shape, and imagery dominate the memory game, not text.
For Schwartz, this theory isn’t academic.
With Orpheus & The Raven, he built a brand without leaning on heritage, only imagination. Through distinctive hand-drawn illustrations and narrative-rich design, his wine now stands out in international markets not only for its credentials but for its character.
Why story matters more than grape
Both Rey and Schwartz agreed that technical specs no longer sell wine. The story does.
From philosophies to places and the personalities who shape them, the modern wine drinker is looking for meaning, not just method.
Rey’s rebranding of McGregor Winery is a case in point.
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Instead of a generic label refresh, he told a tale: ‘Where the road ends, our story begins.’ That one sentence, rooted in geography but rich in symbolism, helped reposition the brand with quiet power.
The label itself broke from tartans and tradition, moving towards bold typography and punchy colour palettes that modernised the visual language without losing the soul of the brand.
Generational codes: One shelf, three audiences
Design isn’t one-size-fits-all. Each generation brings its own lens.
As Schwartz pointed out, some wine brands, like Whiny Baby, are flipping the script, treating wine as content, entertainment and identity all at once.
Great brands aren’t built overnight
It’s tempting to look at global icons and assume their brand recognition was inevitable. But every giant earned its place through consistent storytelling, visual discipline and relentless refinement.
Schwartz unpacked how iconic brands like Coca-Cola, Nike and Johnnie Walker built lasting recognition, not overnight, but over decades of disciplined brand building.
Coca-Cola, for instance, began developing its distinctive brand identity as far back as the late 1800s. The now-iconic script logo first appeared in 1887, but it wasn’t until the 1920s that Coke leaned into the red and white colour palette and contoured bottle that would cement it as a household name.
Even today, Coke invests billions in keeping its assets fresh yet familiar.
As brand strategist Mark Barden notes in the online business magazine Fast Company, ‘Coke’s brilliance lies not just in being known, but in being recognisably consistent across cultures and generations.’
Nike, similarly, didn’t become a cultural force the day it introduced the swoosh. When the logo was first designed in 1971, it was met with internal uncertainty. The breakthrough came in the late 1980s when the company paired it with a powerful story: ‘Just do it.’
With bold emotional advertising and athlete partnerships, Nike built an ethos that transcended product and stuck.
As Phil Knight, Nike’s co-founder, famously said, ‘We’re a marketing company, and the product is our most important marketing tool.’
Johnnie Walker has been walking forward, literally and figuratively, since the early 1900s. Its slanted label and top-hatted striding man have endured because they evolved just enough over time.
The brand’s 1999 relaunch with the ‘Keep walking’ campaign was a case study in storytelling rooted in heritage yet reimagined for relevance. That consistency gave Johnnie Walker a distinctive emotional posture: progress, confidence and boldness in motion.
The takeaway? Distinctiveness isn’t a quick win; it’s a long game. It’s earned through patience, vision and the courage to stay the course while refining along the way. Wine brands that aspire to stay top of mind must also think in decades, not just quarters.
5 truths for building wine brands that stick
From Rey and Schwartz’s work, five enduring truths emerged:
- Lead with story, not grape: the bottle is your vessel, but the narrative is your engine.
- Build what no one else can copy: Hand-drawn illustrations, bespoke typography, a visual voice that’s unmistakably yours.
- Think in decades, not campaigns: Avoid fleeting trends. Own something timeless and refine it with intention.
- Design for the digital shelf: Your label might show up as a thumbnail before it hits the table. Make it legible, striking and scroll-stopping.
- Blend the familiar with the unexpected: Evolve your brand without alienating loyalists. Surprise without severing ties.
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Redefining heritage for a new era
The wine brands that will win tomorrow aren’t throwing out their history. They’re reimagining it, translating provenance into personality and craft into connection.
As this Masterclass made clear, lasting brand equity isn’t just about what’s in the bottle. It’s about building memory, shaping meaning and creating an emotional shorthand that lingers long after the cork is pulled.
In a world of choices, the boldest thing a wine brand can do is be unforgettable.
nd storytellers from across the wine world.