What We Can Learn From Apothic's Weird-ass Branding
Say the name "Apothic Red" in wine communities and you may see an eyeroll. It's a mass-produced wine with mass-market appeal owned by Gallo, California's largest wine exporter. It can be found in the grocery store for $10.99. It likely has a ton of weird shit in it like Mega Purple and gelatin. It was also the 7th best selling wine brand on Drizly's Top 20 Best-selling Wines in 2020. But mostly, it's known for its distinctive branding, which I would describe as "gahd awful" if it wasn't so...well, distinctive.
Take a look at the labels here:
Screenshot from apothic.com
When I first saw these labels on the shelf, I was like "nope, not for me" which is actually an indicator of good branding. If I know right away that it's not for me, then it is for someone.*
And who is that someone? "That someone" certainly knows! Check out the lovely people who voluntarily (as in, not paid to advertise) tagged #apothicred on instagram. They're not all carbon copies of one another, but they do share a certain aesthetic.
Roses! Skulls! Dragons! Tattoos! Pillar candles! These folks aren't playing—they want to drink this wine and they want to drink a LOT of it in their sexy goblets. A brand that you love should feel like it was made for you—like it's a nice, comfy home. And I'm guessing these people feel that way about Apothic. Why else would they wear it like a badge on their social media?
Interestingly, many of the instagrammers used common hashtags that were unrelated to wine entirely. For example: #vampire #gothic #instagay #tattoos #demons #homedecor and #dungeonsanddragons.
This kind of brand affinity is what strategists and marketers dream of. The kind where a subset of people love your brand so much that they sell it for you.
"But how does it taste?" you ask. I don't know firsthand, but I found some tasting notes from this wine blogger who blind tasted it:
"This is fucking nasty oh holy hell...I feel like I just swallowed Grandma’s perfume. There’s absolutely no structure to this liquid – there’s barely any body, acidity or tannin. What there IS unfortunately, is a lingering disgusting finish."
Obviously Apothic is not for her, either. But then again we know...it is for someone.