Australian wine producer Australian Vintage Limited (AVL) has announced the launch of YOU Wines – a new brand firmly targeted toward the Gen Y market segment.

The range, available nationwide through Dan Murphy’s, will include Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

To create a brand designed entirely for a digital generation, AVL worked in conjunction with Gen Y psychologists and generational consultancy group LOVE & WINE to undertake fifteen months of research into generational aspirations.

On the new venture Cameron Ferguson, General Manager, Australian Vintage Limited says:

“The launch of YOU Wines is a result of our deepened understanding of consumer behaviour and segmentation. We’ve challenged our business to be responsive, listen to the needs of our retail partners and bring genuine innovation to the wine category. It’s fair to say that the wine category to date has failed to take advantage of its natural fit with Gen Y consumers, lagging behind the beer, cider and RTD categories. We recognised this market gap, and set about creating a brand from the bottom up that is backed by solid consumer research and insights.”

The brand’s entry into market is timed with continued industry concerns over millennial interest across the wine category as a whole.

The latest CAPR1.figures, which show less than 30% of drinkers aged 21 – 39 years regularly choose wine, underlines the sector’s apparent issues with both buyer connection and brand loyalty.

“The wine industry has continued to engage Gen Y with the wrong emotional messages – squandering a commercial opportunity by not addressing the ways this generation is different. We believe that YOU Wines will have a real and meaningful relationship with this generation that has to date been absent from the category,’ comments Scott Burton, Marketing Manager, Australian Vintage.

The brand hopes to tap into generational resonance by establishing a personality behind each wine, stating a 2013 Article from Marketing Magazine which revealed a brand’s personality is the most important factor to Gen Y appeal – with 60% of subjects sampled agreeing that a brand has to fit “who they are, what they like and how they do things”.

Exhibiting a carefully designed personality behind each SKU will hopefully enable YOU Wines to establish a more elevated and appealing relationship than a Gen Y buyer would hold for other beverages.

“The generational shift in aspirational models and peer influences is something wine producers haven’t generally come to terms with”, claims Burton. “Most are still relying solely on the old paradigm that young peoples’ tastes will automatically mature into wine, as their parents did. But Gen Y doesn’t slavishly follow their parents; to imagine so is to fundamentally misunderstand the motivational dynamic.”

True to Gen Y, marketing outreach at time of launch will pivot around social media and digital activations, including an interactive personality quiz on www.youwines.com.au. Digital endeavours will also be supported in store, with messaging encouraging young consumer to ask “who are you?”.

YOU is distributed by Australian Vintage Limited will hold recommended retail price of $12.99.