Clos du Val wins product placement game June 10, 2004
Oliver Styles, and agencies
There are more bottles of Clos Du Val in Hollywood movies than any other wine – and the Napa producer reckons that can boost sales by up to 50%.
Clos du Val pays a Santa Monica marketing firm around US$5,000 a month to keep its wines in directors' minds.
Aaron Gordon of Set Resources offers up cases of Clos du Val to be served at premieres and other big showbiz events, the Los Angeles Times reports.
An example of the fruits of such diligent marketing can be found in the forthcoming Steven Spielberg film The Terminal. The director felt having actor Tom Hanks order a bottle of Champagne was too pretentious for a romantic dinner.
So prop master David Harlocker came up with a bottle of Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon. 'Steven said that would work fine,' Harlocker said.
Although Harlocker says such decisions 'are just a roll of the dice', Clos du Val gives away around 240 cases a year – worth an estimated US$36,000 – on product placement.
E&J Gallo is another major player using its clout as a major TV advertiser to get its products into shows. A major success was getting a bottle of Rancho Zabaco onto the phenomenally popular Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
Unlike many other brands, wineries do not usually pay for placement in films, and according to Brooke Correll, Clos du Val's vice-president of marketing, the policy appears to be working.
'Although there's no way to measure the effect on the company's revenue, wine sales in the first quarter of this year were almost 50% higher than a year ago,' he said.
Those with a keen eye can spot Clos du Val in about 100 films and television shows, including the film 21 Grams, mob series The Sopranos, and Channel 4's current hit, The OC.
Register on decanter.com absolutely free for news alerts delivered direct to your email inbox, and our fortnightly newsletter with advance notice of what’s coming up in Decanter magazine, offers, competitions and more.
PLUS registration is a one-stop shop for the Decanter magazine Archive and Decanter Fine Wine Tracker.
