Yalumba, Australia’s most historic family-owned winery, wanted to gain traction with the Chinese community and create an effective activation strategy in China. Bastion Insights’ Cross-Cultural team conducted research to further understand the Chinese communities wants and needs and uncover potential business opportunities both locally and beyond.

In order to do this, Bastion Insights first needed to dive into the Chinese consumers’ understanding of the wine industry. Bastion Insights unveiled various Chinese cultural aspects of alcohol and wine, the shopper’s journey, path-to-purchase and primary retail options within China and Australia. The findings were extremely helpful in navigating the complex Chinese market.

The research was conducted via Bastion Insights’ Golden Voice community, where over 400 Chinese wine drinkers both offline and online were interviewed, including a sensory test (blind taste test for wine).

Bastion Insights uncovered particular demographics within the Chinese community that were ideal to target, as well as Chinese cities with the most purchase potential.

Understanding the concept of Chinese ‘face value’ and wine gifting was new to the client and somewhat complicated to grasp. It shaped the Yalumba brand proposition as well as the communication strategy profoundly. Bastion Insights have helped with recommending a winning product mix and creating a unique brand narrative and position for Yalumba that appeals to the Chinese market.

“Before the research took place, we didn’t have a thorough understanding of how our brand was perceived by Chinese, but we have learned so much about Chinese and their culture, this (research) has been an invaluable investment!”

–  Jo Jeffries, Brand Manager, Yalumba

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