How does internationalization affect the management of the brand identity signs

: the case study of Sogrape

Abstract

Over the past decades, internationalization processes have been growing among wine firms, being increasingly relevant to their success. Within the international landscape, different markets present different cultures, different consumers’ behaviour and other specificities, such as distinct legal regulations. The diversity and complexity of such factors make the analysis of foreign markets a challenging task for wine firms. In particular, branding strategies imply a considerable investment in terms of research, money and time. The present research aims to understand the internationalization strategies a wine firm implements with respect to the brand identity signs - in particular, packaging, logo and label – as well as to infer the reasons behind the adoption of these strategies. To examine this topic, we chose Sogrape, Portugal’s largest premium wine company, as a case study. By applying a qualitative methodology, secondary data was collected and two interviews were carried out. Alongside with the literature review, the purpose of these data collection methods is to understand “Which adaptation and standardization strategies Sogrape implements concerning the brand identity signs of Mateus, Gazela and Silk & Spice when serving foreign markets, taking into consideration the specificities of the foreign markets and the heterogeneity of wine consumers worldwide”. The results indicate that, when internationalizing, wine brands should standardize the intrinsic attributes of wine (e.g., wine style) as well as the extrinsic attributes responsible for the brand’s authenticity and identity (e.g., specific elements of packaging, label or logo). Whereas other extrinsic attributes, with the exception of the logo, are typically adapted to a lower or higher degree according to the market and its consumers.

Date of Award	9 Dec 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Joana Machado (Supervisor)