Concho y Toro
Before I started to really enjoy, try, and learn about different types of wine, I would have easily allowed the “halo trap” bias to impact my wine purchasing decisions. In fact, the first words that come to mind when I think of France are high quality wine and sophistication, so I would undoubtedly think a French wine is a higher quality product than one produced in Chile.
As the case notes, Chilean wine does not have a distinct brand, and it is considered “safe and boring,” like the Volvo brand in the automobile industry. Concho Y Toro needs to follow a top-down approach and market its premium line over its cheap one. A first impression, as we all know, is hard to change in the customer’s mind. If Concho Y Toro starts to market its cheap line of wine, most consumers will associate the “brand” and Chilean wines in general to be “cheap” lower quality products. Consumers will be less likely to accept “higher quality” products if they are introduced later in the marketing campaign.
For the marketing content, Concho Y Toro should try to show that Chilean wines are now as sophisticated as and even rivaling some of the best varieties in France and Italy. We saw that Californian wine sales increased significantly when French wine experts had rated Californian wines higher than French ones in blind taste tests. Why not apply the same tactic with Chilean wines? Lastly, the advertisement should also invoke associations with Chile ( the food, culture, the beautiful landscape, or intricate process of producing the wine) that is strongly engrained in the customers mind. Once Chile is associated with quality, premium wine products in American minds, than it will be easier to generate demand and market a cheaper variety.