Wine brand turns to crowdsourcing

Sovio – a low-alcohol sparkling wine – is extending its line with still variants and is seeking innovative and unconventional label designs for its range.

Helen Lentze, marketing manager at TFC Wines & Spirits, said: "We felt that a competition for artists, art students and illustrators in general would be the best way to achieve this as most of them are most likely not working in the wine industry and can come up with unbiased, fresh and unconventional ideas for our product."

The competition will run until 31 August at http://sovio.co.uk/competition/index.php

The winning design may be used on Sovio's line extensions as well as on its social media platform. The initiative is aimed at art and design students as well as anyone with an interest in illustration. The winning designer will be rewarded with a one-week trip to San Francisco.

Sovio launched in the UK in April 2010 and has an alcohol content of just 5.5%.

It is produced by Napa Valley winemaking expert David Stevens and marketed as a "lighter alternative" due to its lower alcohol content and is aimed at the "easy-going option for mid-week drinking".

The brand is currently stocked in Tesco and Premier convenience stores.

Sovio's launch into the UK market was marred by a protracted battle over whether the drink could legally call itself a wine because of its low alcohol content.

The Wine Standards Board continues to insist that although it is generically 100% wine and totally undiluted by anything else, it must be described as a "wine-based drink".

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk