Maja Pawinska Sims 12 Nov 2021 // 4:43PM GMT
LONDON — The Wine Society – the world’s oldest co-operative wine retailer – has appointed Cirkle to handle consumer PR after a competitive pitch.
The agency is tasked with driving awareness of The Wine Society’s business model, as a mutually-run organisation, set up in 1874, where all profits are put back into the business and its 170,000 members benefit from low-margin pricing.
Cirkle will also aim to grow the organisation’s membership by communicating its wines and services to a broader range of consumers through news generation, ambassador campaigns and influencer work. The programme starts with positioning The Wine Society’s wines and membership as Christmas gifts.
Specialist wine PR company, Dillon Morrall, continues to handle The Wine Society’s specialist wine press.
The Wine Society CEO Steve Finlan said: “The Cirkle team demonstrated enthusiasm, passion and expertise throughout. We were looking for an agency that could take The Society into its next phase of development – and what Cirkle proposed will do just that. We’re really looking forward to working closely with the team.”
The account will be led by Cirkle’s consumer brands managing partner Kate Gibson. Cirkle CEO Ruth Kieran said: “We’re thrilled to be working with this very special and unique organisation, a community of expert winemakers, colleagues and members where a mutual love of exceptional quality wine comes first. The Wine Society has a rich history and a refreshing non-profit-maximising approach to the industry and we can’t wait to start telling these stories in the consumer media space.”
Cirkle’s other consumer brand clients include Birds Eye, Britvic, Dreams, Goodfellas, Honda, Aunt Bessie’s, GSK (Aquafresh, Corsodyl, Voltarol), Premier Foods (Mr Kipling, Oxo, Bisto), PepsiCo (Quaker, Walkers, Tropicana) and The Happy Egg Co.