HONEST BRANDING
FOR GOOD WINE
AND GOOD PEOPLE
A premium wine tasting experience while remaining approachable and unpretentious
Background
It all started with a heart full of passion for South African wine. The founder of the company had a vision of creating an enjoyable wine tasting experience that is friendly and approachable for everyone without the pretentiousness by offering premium wine at reasonable prices. CRE8 was then assigned to build a branding strategy that passes on the positive message.
Challenges
As a new brand in the business, Molovino had to stand out from many other prestigious brands with established legacies and break the stereotypes. It became crucial that the design team translated the brand’s uplifting characters into an inviting language that the public would embrace and understand, while retaining the goodness from its origins – South Africa.
Solutions
NAMING
We wanted to create an honest brand that is modern, vibrant, and at the same time, representing the proud African heritage. In Xhosa, one of the languages of South Africa, “molo” means hello. That is why we combined the word with “vino”, meaning wine in Italian, to be the brand name – Molovino – as a genuine greeting to wine lovers.
LOGO
A pictorial icon was formed with three important elements: an Umbrella Thorn Acacia tree depicting the savanna; a wine glass; and a setting sun that implies the time of the day when you usually enjoy a glass of wine. We also created a unique typeface that is contemporary yet with a tiny hint of serif.
MARKETING COLLATERALS
We extended the same visual strategy to other marketing collaterals, including name cards, gift bags, brochures, and website. Inspired by one of the vineyards – Runner Duck that uses ducks as an organic means of pest control, we came up with a slogan for Molovino – GOOD WINE GOOD PEOPLE – hoping to deliver the pure happiness derived from nature and also giving back to nature.
