Wine & Spirits Brand Strategy: The Motives Behind the Choice

Presentation in Greek — English summary below.

Why do people choose one wine or spirit over another?

In business, we tend to devote most of our attention to what is tangible and easy to rationalize: product quality, grape variety, provenance, price, packaging, distribution and communication. Yet these attributes do not fully explain why one wine becomes meaningful and desirable while another equally good product does not. Much of preference lies deeper—in emotions, associations and fundamental human motives that consumers themselves may struggle to articulate.

Wine provides a fascinating lens through which to explore this hidden side of human choice. Why have humans been drawn to alcohol across cultures and throughout history, despite alcohol itself being a toxin? Its attraction is connected to a remarkable range of biological, psychological and social functions—from reducing anxiety and encouraging exploration to self-expression, transition, vitality and social connection.

The Three Deep Motives of Wine

Using THE WHEEL OF MOTIVES®, the analysis moved beyond describing wine attributes to uncover the deeper emotional structure of the category. Three particularly powerful motivational territories emerged: BALANCE, TRANSFORM and PLAY.

BALANCE — Wine as wisdom, harmony and civilization.
Wine embodies proportion, refinement and the passage of time. It is slow, complex and sophisticated—a product in which nature is shaped and perfected through human knowledge. Across history, wine has been associated with philosophical thought, reasoning and truth: calming the body while keeping the mind lively, loosening the tongue and creating a state of contemplative well-being.

TRANSFORM — Wine as a catalyst for change.
Wine is itself a transformation—and transforms those who consume it. From fermentation and the traditions of alchemy to its role in religious and initiation rituals, wine carries a powerful symbolism of transition. It can dissolve inhibitions, expel fatigue, encourage courage and eloquence, and alter our physical, emotional and social state.

PLAY — Wine as vitality and immediate pleasure.
Wine is alive: organic, changing and sensorial. It is associated with celebration, joviality, exhilaration, spontaneity and the pleasure of the moment. We drink wine not only for what it represents, but for the immediate experience of enjoyment, conviviality and being alive.

These three motives reveal something fundamental: people do not simply buy wine—they buy different meanings of wine.

And this is where understanding emotion becomes commercially useful. Once the deeper motivational structure of the category is understood, the strategic question becomes: which of these territories can a particular brand authentically and distinctively own?

In this WSPC session, Dr. Constantinos Pantidos and Master of Wine Konstantinos Lazarakis explored how that answer can become the foundation for brand strategy and positioning. Examples from the Scotch whisky category demonstrated how brands competing within exactly the same functional category can build very different meanings by occupying different motivational territories.

But positioning is only the beginning. For the consumer to recognize and feel that territory, it must then be translated into the brand idea, product, story, communication, sensory experience, packaging and other touchpoints. The motive becomes the thread connecting what the brand stands for with what the consumer actually encounters.

This is the role of THE WHEEL OF MOTIVES®: not simply to classify the emotions surrounding wine, but to make them operational—moving from the biology of human choice, to identifying the strategic territory a brand can own, and from that positioning to the tangible expressions that bring it to life.

Great wine and spirits brands therefore do more than offer an excellent liquid. They give the liquid meaning. Without a distinctive emotional territory, even outstanding products risk disappearing into a sea of similarity.

The discussion ultimately poses a different starting question for wine innovation:

Instead of asking only “What wine should we create?”, ask “What fundamental human motive should our wine uniquely satisfy?”

The session concluded by putting this thinking into practice through the creation of a new wine brand from the motive outward—moving from human motivation, to positioning, to a differentiated brand idea and its expression.

From the meaning of wine → to the motive a brand can own → to the wine experience consumers can actually feel.

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