Truly Deeply worked with Delatite Winery to refresh their brand positioning, identity and packaging and bring to life the true spirit of the brand. The new identity system now provides a clear market segmentation but is also aligned into a strong branded family.

Delatite is a small family run winery that was established in 1982 by Robert and Vivienne Ritchie and now run by their son David. Specialising in cool climate wines, especially white aromatics, Delatite Wines is sited on a picturesque rise overlooking vineyards and rolling hills, with Mt Buller framing the background.

With a family tradition of farming in Australia since the early nineteenth century, David and his wife Catherine are committed to sustainable agricultural practices and winemaking with integrity. Since 2002, they’ve followed biodynamic practices across all areas of vineyard operations and also believe in minimalist winemaking.

Challenge
With a new equity partner involved, Delatite had a unique opportunity to further develop its branded offering and create a stronger market presence. Over the years, the brand has developed a superb reputation for quality, with strong wine critic endorsement and a small but loyal consumer base. There was an opportunity to leverage this reputation with a more potent marketing push.

Delatite required a brand refresh that reflected not only its past family values but also its future biodynamic brand focus. From a brand that had various logo interpretations and label designs, Delatite also required consistency across all touch points to reinforce the new positioning and brand messages.

Insight
Our research and market decode revealed opportunities for Delatite to keep traditional winemaker visual cues while adding a unique ‘traditional twist’ which reflected the art of Delatite’s winemaking.

Clarifying the visual landscape of Delatite’s competitive market, we identified true honesty in the way Delatite does business and a defining devotion to holistic vineyard practices. Delatite’s approach to winemaking honours both the land it works with and future generations and we needed to bring this to life in the brand.

Strategy
“Delatite’s wine making philosophy is dedicated to unleashing the distinctive terroir characteristics of the region and it was imperative that their unique hand crafted process and passion was reflected in the brand strategy
and design output”, says Peter Singline, Brand Scientist and Founder, Truly Deeply.

Designed to reconnect with loyal customers and food industry leaders, Delatite’s new brand positioning celebrates ‘wines with a self-expressive purity’.

“The new positioning deeply resonated with David and Catherine. It clarified something they have lived day in, day out for a long time. What we were able to do was encapsulate the spirit of what they do into a succinct brand positioning statement that provides clarity for the brand moving forward,” added Singline.

Design Solution
Truly Deeply created a new identity system as well as a clear family theme that enables clear differentiation but also a sense of brand unity.

A master typemark has been crafted that builds on the brands heritage balanced with modern honesty and premium wine cues of a centre-aligned typemark.

The Mt Buller hand drawn icon is placed above the Delatite typemark to represent the true position of the mountain in relation to the winery.

The visual language is enriched with a handcrafted grapevine with the letter ‘D’ that sits at the heart of the vine and changes to suit the product. This symbolises Delatite’s rich family heritage of farming in the region, their great love and respect for the land and their biodynamic viticulture practices that allows nature to thrive.

“The Delatite brand identity has been consolidated into an obvious family of brand communications that are sympathetic to the brand proposition. Delatite’s new brand look and feel has the right balance of honest hand crafted illustration and premium wine brand visual cues”, says Derek Carroll, Creative Director and Partner, Truly Deeply.

Deliverables
Truly Deeply provided strategic brand and design solutions for Delatite including; competitor and market decode, brand strategy and positioning, identity design, visual identity development, wine label hierarchy development, wine label design, website design and brand communications such as stationery and business cards.

 

Results
“The development of a single theme across all our labels has been missing since 1986. It has been a long and involved process and Truly Deeply made it an easy one from the outset,” says David Ritchie, Delatite Winery.

“I’m absolutely delighted and proud of our new labels that reflect our values and the importance of our soils, the environment and sustainability to our company and the way we grow grapes and make wine”, added Ritchie.

For more information on Delatite Wines visit delatitewinery.com.au