Hidden Sea wine unveils new look for independent sector

Premium Australian wine brand Hidden Sea has undergone a major rebrand for the UK independent retail sector, as it seeks to open itself up to a wider consumer base.

From this month, bottles will evolve from a laser-printed design to striking, black and white embossed paper labels to enhance on-shelf standout and to clearly communicate its premium proposition to consumers.

The new design places greater emphasis on the brand’s iconic whale motif, Hidden Sea’s purpose, and ocean-saving promise on the new-look label, as they feature prominently to attract shoppers. Driving the brand’s premium positioning, the luxe look and feel of the new labels seek to assure wine drinkers of the brand’s quality and credibility.

The whale on the bottle, which has been updated by leading design firm Denomination, represents a real fossilised whale discovered in a nearby vineyard in South Australia - an area that used to be covered by the Great Southern Ocean. This directly connects the brand to ocean health.

Introduced to UK consumers in its current format in 2018, Hidden Sea has cemented itself wine fixtures and the hearts of shoppers with a bold promise to “save the sea”.

For every bottle of wine sold, the brand removes the equivalent of 10 plastic bottles from the ocean. Since launching, the brand and its partners have removed over 27 million plastic bottles from the world’s oceans.

“This is a huge move for Hidden Sea and one which will expand the appeal of our ocean-saving wine to even more wine lovers in the UK,” Justin Moran, from Hidden Sea wine, said. “Since our launch, we have always set out to attract a mindset rather than a specific demographic, hence our strong purpose and promise to the consumer and the planet. Having invested heavily and performed extensive consumer research with a globally acclaimed partner, we are confident that we will see an uptick in sales in the off-trade as more drinkers connect the wines with our purpose and promise - to remove plastic from the ocean and save the sea.

“Our five UK skus - a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chardonnay, a Red Blend, Rosé and Shiraz - are all incredible examples of Limestone Coast wines; easy drinking, exceptional quality and great for any occasion. We hope that the new look bottles will create further stand out on shelf to appeal to a new generation of wine drinkers who actively seek out conscious, quality brands.”

Pete Fairclough, from Kingsland Drinks, added: “Hidden Sea is a true lifestyle brand that appeals to a younger, wider demographic of wine drinker in the UK. The re-design brings labels to shelf that are reassuringly credible while also being informative at the point of sale.

“Since we brought the brand to UK wine drinkers, Hidden Sea has created a loyal fan base of followers with a robust PR and influencer relations strategy - this has been bolstered by large scale stunts with heavyweight global partner, ZeroCo. Last year, Hidden Sea worked with divers in Cornwall to clean up the sea as part of World Ocean Day and a seven-seas global clean up, and the partners have also worked together on large-scale clean ups in Indonesia, Egypt and the Philippines and have even bigger projects in the pipeline. This is all part of Hidden Sea’s Billion Bottle Cleanup - a bold promise to remove one billion plastic bottles from the world’s oceans and waterways.”