Port Wine

: a fashionable cocktail drink? : a cluster's marketing and branding approach

Abstract

Founded in 1933, the Douro and Port Wines Institute (Instituto de Vinhos do Douro e Porto – IVDP), is the most relevant governmental institution on what concerns the Port wine industry regulation, control and promotion. Worldwide recognized and awarded by its quality, Port wine is a fortified wine that can only be produced in the Douro Demarcated Region, the oldest in the world. With such a distinguished competitive advantage, the Port wine cluster has underperformed in the recent past, by failing to change the people’s perception of Port as a “boring old-man’s drink”, only to be drank at special occasions. At the same time, the alcoholic beverages industry, has been seeing some innovations that Port wine’s competitors have been taking advantage of. Drinks like Gin, Licor Beirão, Caipirinha or Martini, have been leading the way in marketing strategies innovation, and by doing so, have achieved a competitive advantage over Port wine. In this case is studied how IVDP can use its governmental institution powers, in the Port wine cluster, to bring Port back into fashion. It will be done by analyzing the alcoholic beverages industry trends, Port’s competitors and how the cluster functionalities can be used in order to face the upcoming challenges, and to take advantage of the market opportunities.

Date of Award	4 Nov 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Paulo Simão Pires (Supervisor)