Segmenting the wine packaging market in Slovenia

Naloga se v teoretičnem delu ukvarja z marketingom vina in s trgom vinske embalaže, v empiričnem delu pa specifično s sekundarno embalažo za vino in s segmentiranjem odjemalcev, ki so dovzetni za nakup ustekleničenega vina v izbrani sekundarni embalaži. Zgodovina proizvodnje vina je stara 9.000 let, danes pa je vino popularno po celem svetu – svetovna letna poraba znaša več kot 240 milijonov hektolitrov. Vsi zgodovinski dokazi in najdbe, ki jih poznamo o vinu, so vezani na posodje, v katerem so naši predniki hranili vino kar govori o neločljivi povezanosti vina in embalaže, v kateri se le-ta skladišči, transportira in prodaja. Prodajno embalažo za vino delimo na primarno (steklenica, čep, nalepka) in sekundarno (škatle, ovitki, vrečke). Trenutno na trgu materialov prevladujejo steklo in pluta ter karton in les. Ker je steklo težko, pri transportu ustvari velik ogljični odtis. Proizvajalci so zato predstavili alternativno lažjo embalažo za vino, ki je izdelana iz obnovljivih materialov, kot so PET, tetrapak, bag-in-a-box in polipropilen. Pri pregledu znanstvenega korpusa smo ugotovili, da pred dvajsetimi leti raziskovalna disciplina “trženje vina / vinski marketing” sploh ni obstajala. Danes pa smo samo v zvezi z nakupnimi navadami odjemalcev vina v nalogi lahko povzeli več kot 100 znanstvenih in strokovnih člankov. Ugotovili smo, da se trženjski splet za vino značilno ne razlikuje od trženjskega spleta za druge izdelke. Poleg priročnosti je najpomembnejša lastnost embalaže za vino, da deluje kot medij prenosa sporočila med proizvajalcem in kupcem vina. Razumevanje odjemalcev in zadovoljevanje njihovih potreb sta bistvena za uspešen marketing. Različni ljudje imajo različne potrebe in narobe bi bilo, če bi vse obravnavali enako. Rešitev je v segmentiranju in iskanju homogenih skupin odjemalcev, ki so dovzetni za marketing in nakup podobnih izdelkov. Na praktični ravni za podjetje velja, da se uspešna segmentacija izvede z minimalnimi možnimi resursi, izkaže pa se z učinkovito marketinško strategijo, ki doseže željene tržne deleže in prinaša dobiček. V nalogi smo pripravili smernice oz. protokol izvedbe segmentacijske raziskave. Po izvedeni segmentacijski analizi tehnološko-finančnih, demografskih in socialno-psiholoških dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na nakup vina na Primorskem, smo ugotovili, da je vino v sekundarni embalaži smiselno segmentno tržiti zgolj glede na namen nakupa oz. glede na rabo (izpostavljamo nakup vina v leseni sekundarni embalaži za osebna in poslovna darila). Alternativna embalaža pri nas niti pri vinarjih, niti pri odjemalcih še ni dobro poznana in sprejeta. Oboji prisegajo na klasične materiale, kar je značilno za t. i. stari evropski vinski svet. Specifično za sekundarno embalažo velja, da gre za zelo nišni trg – še vedno se največ vina proda zgolj v primarni embalaži. Nekoč je pri mleku in mlečnih izdelkih kot embalaža prevladovalo steklo, danes je drugače. Si lahko predstavljamo, da bomo v prihodnosti v alternativni embalaži kupovaili tudi vino? Novi vinski svet (ZDA, Avstralija, Rusija, Čile) zanimanje za alternativo že kaže. The theoretical part of the thesis examines the wine marketing and wine packaging sectors, while the empirical part presents a segmentation analysis of Slovenian wine consumers. The art of wine making is at least 9,000 years old. With annual global consumption of over 240 million hectoliters, wine has become one of the most popular adult beverages on the shelves. The fact that most of recorded history of wine making is closely linked to the vessels in which our ancestors stored the beverage shows the utmost importance that packaging has played in the industry over the eons. There are two main types of wine packaging components: primary (bottle, cap, label) and secondary (boxes, sleeves, bags). Currently, among primary wine packaging materials, glass and cork are the norm, while the secondary packaging market is dominated by cardboard and wood. However, due to its weight and specific manufacturing process, glass packaging creates a substantial carbon footprint. This is why wine professionals are exploring renewable alternatives, such as PET, tetrapak, bag-in-a-box, and polypropylene. Having reviewed recent academic corpus, we have discovered that twenty years ago a research discipline "wine marketing" did not even exist. Contrastingly, at the date of writing this paper, we were able to locate more than 100 scientific papers on the topic of wine consumers’ purchasing habits alone. We have discovered that the marketing mix for wine is not significantly different from the marketing mix for other products. Apart from being convenient, wine packaging's most important feature is the fact that it acts as a communication medium between wine makers and buyers. Understanding customers and meeting their needs are the key elements of successful marketing. Different people have different needs, and it would be wrong if all consumers are approached in the same way. The solution lies in segmenting the market and finding homogeneous groups of consumers who are willing to purchase similar products. Successful segmentation can be carried out at minimum costs. It can help develop an effective marketing strategy, which, in turn, can help to achieve the desired market share and profit levels. One of the practical results of our thesis is a set of guidelines for wine professionals on implementation of a well-balanced segmentation analysis. In the empirical part of the thesis, we offer an example of the segmentation analysis of Slovenian wine and wine packaging market. We considered technological, financial, demographic and socio-psychological factors that affect wine purchasing in Slovenia's Primorska region. Results show that secondary wine packaging is a niche market, as majority of wine is sold in primary packaging only. At present, the only viable segment that secondary wine packaging can penetrate is based on wine purchase intention and wine usage (buying wine in a wooden secondary packaging for personal and corporate gifts is one example). Unfortunately, we have also found that the knowledge about alternative wine packaging is low among wine producers and wine purchasers. Both groups still believe that classical materials work best for wine packaging, which is in line with other similar studies and is typical for the so-called ‘Old Wine World’ (i.e. Europe). People once firmly believed that milk and many other dairy products can only be sold in glass packaging, yet today PET and tetrapak prevail in the dairy packaging sector. Can we imagine the future in which wine will be sold in such packaging as well? The New Wine World (USA, Australia, Russia, Chile) already is already showing an increasing interest in such alternatives.