Penfolds – Royal Opera House Partnership

Objective:

Penfolds most respected wine, Grange, has set the standard for what good wine around the world can be. However, at its high price point and with an exclusive audience, getting buyers to experience every annual varietal was difficult. Previously asking a select group of buyers to exclusive locations was successful, but difficult and had high dropout due to conflicting schedules. How could Penfolds make a Grange sampling unmissable?

Insight:

High net worth individuals don’t come to you, you come to them – even if you have something amazing. When the world is at your fingertips, you don’t miss out on much – so urgency isn’t a pressing factor.

Approach: 

Instead of identifying a venue to get prospective Grange drinkers to visit, put Grange in the locations that high net worth individuals already frequently go to and won’t miss.

Idea:

Survey data indicated that the opera disproportionately attracts the type of consumer Penfolds wanted to reach. Additionally, the Royal Opera House was the type of platform money couldn’t buy, providing access to tasting rooms, bars and talent that we could associate with the brand. Penfolds shifted from asking people to come to them, to being an integral part of where they wanted to be – through partnership with the Royal Opera House in London.

Results:

The partnership was a commercial and brand level agreement, stocking Penfolds in the ROH’s numerous bars and restaurant, as well as giving the brand the use of private rooms at intermission for Grange tastings. Allowing a platform for the Grange launch through to offering other varietals in its bars and ticketed master classes, it has developed into a long term partnership benefitting both winemaker and opera house.

// Agency: JWT London

// Role: Senior Strategist