Estate has it covered

Outdoor advertising, normally the preserve of the spirits industry, is being taken on in super-size format by the estate as part of its strategy to make wine more accessible to more South Africans, says marketing manager Misti Watson. Last year Watson launched an extensive TV commercial campaign on mainstream and pay channels that exposes viewers to the very special mystique of winemaking on the famous Paarl winery.

The first in a planned series of mega-billboards has been erected at a high visibility site in downtown Johannesburg. Cladding Braamfontein's Old Siemens House on two sides, the striking black elevations are an elegant eye-catcher for motorists entering and leaving the city from the Queen Elizabeth and Nelson Mandela bridges.

The western elevation measures 1,254 square metres and the southern, 923.9 square metres.

“While we continue to use traditional avenues to engage with consumers who have a strong involvement in wine, we are adopting other channels to reach a broader group of South Africans who enjoy or have the potential to enjoy wine.”

The estate caters to a wide spectrum of South Africans with a tiered offering of wines suited to a variety of occasions but the same meticulous attention to detail applies throughout, Watson says. “We give as much attention to producing Baronne, South Africa's ubiquitous red blend, which received the top rating in its class on the recent International Wine & Spirit Competition, as we do to our connoisseur Manor House Shiraz, judged the best Shiraz in the world on the same show. In the same way, we use different communication streams to reach wine-lovers, but always in a way that ignites their interest and their appetite.”