UK: Blue Nun focuses on the ladies

Blue Nun is looking to reinvigorate sales with two consumer-targeted campaigns.

The wine brand is launching a brace of sampling pushes with UK retailers Ann Summers and Dorothy Perkins in an attempt to target a new generation of wine drinkers. The campaigns back a redesign of the brand in the UK.

Both campaigns are focussing on 18 to 25-year-old females. According to Keith Lay, from Blue Nun's UK distributor Ehrmanns, this consumer sector should be known as "Wine Virgins", used to describe younger females experimenting with wine but mainly drinking RTDs.

Blue Nun sampled in over 70 key Dorothy Perkins stores across the UK on the 25 and 28 May as part of a 'Girls Night In' event hosted by the high street fashion store. Targeting an estimated 27,000 young women with a complimentary glass of Blue Nun wine, these events were held in association with Now Magazine and the Breast Cancer Care Charity.

Blue Nun's partnership with Ann Summers Party Plan continues into 2006, with a further sampling activity due to roll out from 29 May to 26 June, targeting another 40,000 young women.

"Consumer research for the makeover of the Blue Nun brand showed that "Wine Virgins" do drink wine, but have little or no understanding of it, or interest in finding out more", says Armin Wagner, marketing director of Langguth, Blue Nun's parent company.

"We think that this is a big opportunity for Blue Nun as few other wine brands are targeting this group with a range of consistently good, easy to understand, easy drinking varieties that will suit their palates as well as their pockets."