CONSTELLATION BRANDS

Constellation Brands

Constellation Brands

Introduction

Constellation Brands, Inc., headquartered in Victor, New York, is the largest wine company in the world with a broad portfolio of premium wine brands complemented by imported beer, spirits and other beverage alcohol products. The company was established in 1945 by Marvin Sands in the Finger Lakes region of New York as Canandaigua Industries Company. Since that time, the company has grown organically and by acquisitions across all segments of the beverage alcohol industry.

Branding & Design

The overall design concept evolved from understanding that business and friendships are both formed from overlapping relationships; the visual treatment of interlinking rings communicates the inter-relationship of brands, the people and their markets. The design template was reproduced either over a map of the world to represent the truly global culture of Constellation, or over the newly commissioned beautiful product photography.

Design Solution

In the last twenty years, the worldwide wine industry has become increasingly internationalized and sophisticated, though over the years, the market has become fragmented, international, multi-lingual, operating in many currencies, and information-intensive. The wine industry globally faces continued shake-up and consolidation and the generation of mega wine companies has become inevitable as no one wine company - listed or private - currently has more than one percent of the world wine market, in stark contrast to other beverages. The world's wine markets are going through a interesting period of structural adjustment also.

In Italy and Europe the competition of New York wines is not as high as competition is for classic wines. The popular wine companies that Constellation will be competing with in Italy are not succeeding as well as they like, this is maybe due to them not having the quality as high as Constellation wines.

The wine industry is beginning to consolidate as it matures and the major firms compete for clout in an increasingly competitive environment. In the wholesale distributor market, distributors have emerged that have developed exclusive distributor agreements for its products in many regions. This, coupled with harder times for the wine industry has forced a number of smaller players out of business altogether. For those that have survived consolidation will increase their bargaining power in purchasing from vintners.

Business Plan

Positioning plays a vital role in market segmentation, whilst the target consumer is clear it is vital to segment into the market to find the appropriate target consumer and to compete most Constellation Wineries aim to position themselves along with classic wine makers such as France and Italy. Their positioning in the market is to enter the European market with Napa Valley AVA wines and to compete with classic wines directly, maintaining premium prices on the top shelf along with classic wines.

One of the largest challenges for the New York wine industry is enhancing our reputation for quality and value. Between 1999 and 2007, the number of U.S. wineries has increased from 2688 to 4929 (83%). Napa Valley is one of the top ten growing regions of the world. The challenge is, even though Constellation have a growing reputation with ...