As a seasoned traveller who undertakes several international trips a year, John Jewell implemented a new travel strategy in 2015, undertaking shorter, more frequent trips, allowing leads and subsequent projects to be followed up faster and more effectively. With 2016 well underway, what are John’s thoughts on the new strategy?

The new approach to travel worked incredibly well in 2015. It allowed for increased exposure to international trends and even more dedicated face-to-face time with existing clients. When you travel as much as I do, it’s important to continually evaluate and refine the year’s travel strategy to make sure the time spent abroad is as productive as possible for both myself and my clients.

John spent almost 3 months overseas in 2015, attending wine shows such as Prowein, London International Wine Fair, Bordeaux Wine Fair and the Bulk Wine Exhibition in Amsterdam. The time abroad is also used to visit retailers to identify emerging trends and any shifts in the market. Of his discoveries for 2015, John says,

Supermarkets and wine stores are ranging wine by flavour profile rather than grape variety (i.e. Red wines are listed as either light, easy of powerful. White wines are listed as dry, medium sweet or sweet and Rose is listed as either fresh or sweet. Sparkling is still listed under the sparkling category), this is a big change in the way wine is displayed and we’ve yet to see this reflected in Australian retail outlets.

The other shift that has become evident in the last 12 months is the move in London and China from conservative wine label designs to more modern and contemporary styles. Specifically in China, this change seems to be driven by young entrepreneurs having an increased influence on the market.

Year after year, John still believes Prowein in Dusseldorf is his most successful, saying,

I’ve been attending Prowein for 12 years now and it continues to be the stand-out. In 2015 I was booked out for 3 days straight with meetings every 45 minutes for 8 hours each day.

The continual success of John’s visits to Prowein means this year he’ll be accompanied by Melissa, another member of the JJD team to help in delivering even greater outcomes from the fair.

The extra pair of legs on the ground isn’t the only change for the year ahead, 2016 will also see John attending additional wine shows in New York, Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

With all this locked in and other plans in the works, 2016 is already shaping up to be a busy one!

It’s already been a busy year for John, his passport and his ever-growing insights into emerging wine trends throughout the globe. John is undertaking shorter, more frequent trips to the UK and Europe so that he can be responsive in sharing his international knowledge with his valued clients.

John recently attended ProWein in Dusseldorf Germany, which is now regarded as the biggest trading show in the world. John says…

Prowein is a fantastic opportunity for me to meet with as many international clients as possible in a concentrated period of time. These exchanges are incredibly productive and the resulting work often hits the office before I’m even back in the country.

John was back in Australia for a few weeks after ProWein before heading off to the London Wine Fair, which he has participated in since 2002. This year saw him conduct six meetings a day, primarily with distributors. Regarding developments in the industry, John said…

It’s interesting to note the move towards trendy, quirky wine label designs in the U.K. I’ll be keeping an eye out to see how this develops further in the coming year.

John will be back for a total of 13 days before heading off again, this time to Vinexpo in Bordeaux. Stay tuned for further travel updates on this and subsequent trips.

He spent these weeks traveling Europe researching the wine market and the styles that are taking over the industry. This research is what has proven to develop John Jewell Design into one of the creative leaders that it is today.

From this research we have now produced another 40 innovative designs for our online catalogue with even more yet to be produced.

First stop was 3 days at the London International Wine Fair (LIWF) for meetings with prospective clients, as well as with some of John Jewell Design’s (JJD) existing client base.

“we flew all the way to London and met with some of our clients based in Rutherglen, Griffith and Mildura. The saying ‘it’s a small world’ is definitely apt these days”.

John’s impressions of the fair:

“there was a more positive mood this year and it was great to meet with some of the big distributors involved. Italy had a massive presence and it was interesting to note their marked design shift to more new world style designs. It was also fascinating to see that in general, the idea of driving brands around ‘place’ is well and truly entrenched.”

From LIWF it was onto Scotland with the highlight being two days of tastings at Speyside malt whisky distilleries doing research for a branding and procurement project currently being undertaken by JJD for a USA Client.

Following an overnight stopover in Rome, two weeks at the JJD office just outside Bari, and travelling throughout the Puglia region in Southern Italy, John finished his journey by headed to Cantina Tollo in Abruzzo for an outstanding wine tasting that included their internationally award winning Chardonnay. “Sensational!”