Jabulani Wines

“Jabulani is the Zulu word for happiness. A simple kind of happiness that comes from a smile or a joyful moment.” - Jabulani Wines

Project Mission

Jabulani, a new wine brand from South Africa, was ready to launch exclusively in the U.S retail market. Each bottle label depicted unique animal patterns to highlight the heritage and character of the wines. A strong visual impact in-store would be the key to success in convincing a wine buyer to commit to purchasing the product. We recommended that the outer cartons feature an image of the entire animal, to match the imagery of the wine label.

We hired a photographer in Cape Town to take photos of a zebra, leopard, and giraffe. The photographs would then be used in all print and in-store points-of-sale. ‘Explore A New World of Wine’ became the marketing slogan for Jabulani, because not only was South Africa considered a New World wine producer, but to also entice the consumer into exploring a new wine.

A series of print ads were designed and published in the Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast to help promote brand awareness.

The outer cartons were printed using full color photography with a high-gloss coat finish. I designed the carton so that two cases placed next to each other would extend the outer image and encourage store owners to place larger orders for floor displays. The carton was designed with a visual border as a tray along the bottom, which acted as a guide for sales reps to reconfigure the cartons into a display, with the top carton flap folding down behind the bottles.

The imagery made a huge impression with the wine distribution company and we were then able to design and place a vehicle wrap on a delivery truck to further help promote brand awareness.