In 1999, Ted Kunkel, the CEO of Foster’s Brewing, the company
that owned Mildara Blass (now Beringer Blass), informed the chief
executive of the wine company that his friend Greg Norman
“wanted to have his own wine label” and that Mildara Blass was
going to make it happen.
The idea was treated as something of a joke by the marketing
people at Mildara Blass, but as the order had been given, a brand
manager was appointed to launch and guide the Greg Norman
Estates brand. Barrie Tucker, creative director of Tucker Design of
Adelaide, South Australia, was briefed on the project and given
the challenge to create the Greg Norman Estates brand identity
and packaging design.
The marketing staff at Beringer Blass didn’t think the concept
would fly—particularly because there was no actual vineyard—but
they were soon proven wrong. The initial vintage of 20,000 cases
tentatively released in the United States sold out in about one
month. The second vintage took only three months to sell out.
Today, the popularity of Greg Norman, the quality of the wine, and
the distinctive use of the personality of Norman’s Great White
Shark identity with the design firm’s graphics all combine to create
a popular product.
Greg Norman’s multicolored shark logo is well known the world
over in sports and sportswear circles, and translating it to a wine
product could not have been more of a stretch. In fact, the com-
pany that controls the merchandising for the brand (Reebok)
asked Tucker to only use the logo in gold. Eventually, though,
with the help of the Beringer Blass marketing people, he con-
vinced them to allow the use of the color logo.
All but the sparkling variety in the line was already bottled when
the design project was commissioned, so Tucker did not get to
choose the shape of the bottles. He would have to accommodate
several different bottle shapes and decided to keep the labels
fairly conservative with a controlled elegance.
“Overdoing the shark logo would be garish. We decided to use
the logo mildly on the label itself, but use it more boldly at the
neck to catch attention in store,” Tucker says.
The idea of the brand identity was based on the use of the well-
recognized internationally established shark icon. Barrie Tucker be-
lieved that the Greg Norman wine brand had to have the use of
that image to truly succeed. The Greg Norman signature inclusion
was also a must to offer consumers (especially the golfing fraternity
consumers) because it suggests authenticity from Greg Norman and
creates the illusion of an exclusive personalized autograph.
Greg Norman Estates is definitely a case of, “If you build it,
they will come” or
“If you have it, flaunt it.”
Tucker Design applied a logo that was normally used
on clothing and golf gear onto a new line of wine.
Greg Norman Estates has proven to be enormously
popular, inspiring a new golf course in Australia, a
possible vineyard, and incredible sales.
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The three main components of
the new design would be the
name of the new brand; a color
version of Greg Norman’s Great
White Shark logo; and Norman’s
signature.
A hallmark on several bottles is
the split label, which allows the
color of the bottle to show
through. Here stickers are used
to apply the shark logo.
The necks of some of the bottles
have a string of colorful sharks
swimming around it: It is such a
recognizable mark, that that is
the only identification needed.
GREG NORMAN ESTATES
LABEL
115 MM FROM BOTTLE BASE
SHARK METAL PIECE
163 MM FROM BOTTLE BASE
RESERVE LABEL
50 MM FROM
BOTTLE BASE
EXTRA PRINT
AREA TO BE
CUT OFF
EXTRA PRINT
AREA TO BE
CUT OFF
LOGOS PRINT
4 COLOURS OUT OF
GLOSS BLACK
BACKGROUND
HEIGHT OF
CAPSULE
60MM
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It was deemed important to present a serious wine “face” to the
brand. This was achieved with clean typography and an uncluttered
layout, supported by the Greg Norman signature and the understated
use of the shark icon. It is envisaged that any line extensions to the
brand can be created using this simple but striking formula.
For the Chardonnay, Merlot, and Shiraz bottle designs, Tucker created
a split label that highlights the brand name, which is contained in a
smaller band above the larger variety label. The Reserve bottles use
the same design, but their labels are black. The full color shark logo
swims around the bottle neck and is presented on a hand applied
metal label at the front of the Reserve bottle with the shark logo ce-
ramic printed in color on black. The Reserve product was packaged
in a handmade, black paper-covered cardboard box with the brand
screen printed on the lid.
Tucker knew the designs would have to be understated because
the demographics of the potential customers was wide, ranging
from a Greg Norman fan who knew nothing about wine to a wine
fan who knew nothing about Greg Norman.
“We had to make the product understandable to a wide range of
people—the design couldn’t be shocking,” Tucker explains. “It
also had to look like a serious wine in order for it to be interna-
tionally acceptable.”
The wine and its design have been so successful that the line has
grown in volume by well over ten times its original annual sales
budget. New product extensions are planned at various retail
price levels.
The Sparkling wine bottle was created with the Greg Norman signa-
ture ceramic printed in gold directly to the bottle with the brand and
variety label printed in black low on the bottle. This design presen-
tation was formulated to emphasize the bottle’s elegant form, while
highlighting the Greg Norman ‘hero’ signature as a status symbol.
Gift-boxed champagne glasses were also designed, with the signa-
ture printed also in gold on the outside surface of each glass and
on the gift box lid, and reinforced the quality brand cues at the
time of the Sparkling wine release.
Apart from branded glassware, in-store promotional cards and
restaurant tabletop cards were produced bearing the brand iden-
tity. The cards were backed with a color photo presentation of
Greg Norman holding two of the commercial wine products.
This concept drawing for the Greg Normal Reserve
line shows how a hand-applied metal plate can
also be used to extend the brand, but with an even
more premium feel.
Despite the fact that Barry Tucker had to work with the bottle shapes the client had already selected, he
was able to form a recognizable family resemblance between different lines of the new wine.
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For the release of the Greg Norman Estates Reserve wine, Barrie
Tucker created a unique decanter especially for the occasion. The
piece was mouth blown by Australia’s foremost glass blower, Nick
Mount, in an edition of 110 for the occasion. The decanter had the
shark logo embossed on the stopper and the famous Greg Norman
signature was etched into the bowl of the decanter.
The brand identity and packaging has been so successful that
visitors from the United States have even traveled to South Aus-
tralia to visit Greg Norman Estates, which, of course, still does
not exist as of the time of this writing.
Reports of these visitors reached the wine brand’s marketing man-
ager, and now there is a move afoot to develop an actual place
where people can visit and shop and, perhaps, stay in a quality
hotel. A Greg Norman–designed golf course is now open.
The whole project has become a huge success, says Tucker, which is
especially gratifying because the brand was nearly laughed off in the
beginning. About 80 percent of Tucker Design’s work is creating wine
packaging for wineries around the world, and the challenge of con-
stantly reinventing the category is exciting, Tucker says. Greg Norman
Estates is a good example of how the entire notion of who might
enjoy wine—the product’s customer base—can also be reinvented.
The new design was also carried into gift and glassware.
Greg Norman signature prints
glossy gold, starting approx.
160mm from base of glass
160mm
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