I always want to reward marketers who "get it," who show real authenticity by identifying with their customers. So I want to call your attention to a new wine called White Lie, originally reported by Jerry Shriver in USA Today. (You may have to pay for access to the original article.) Tim Manners has his usual insightful analysis at the link below.

Reveries – marketing insights and ideas

White Lie, from Beringer Blass Wine Estates,… [is] touted "as the first in a line of wines ‘designed by women for women.’" The line "will have lower-than-normal calories, sugar and alcohol and will cost just under $10." That’s achieved by using younger grapes with less sugar in them.

Whether it’s possible a younger-grape wine tastes any good is anybody’s guess, although Tracey Mason, one of White Lie’s creators, says it’s yummy: "We are delivering a wine that tastes amazing, but still cheats a little. You don’t have 14.5 percent alcohol; you have 9.8 percent, and it has 97 calories instead of 125."

As for the name, she says it was chosen "because one way women use wine is as a conversation starter, and consumers responded positively to the name." The packaging includes corks imprinted with various "white lies" (e.g., "It’s not you, it’s me"). "The package is definitely skewed female," says Stacey, "But it’s more edgy and creative than overly girly." White Lie launches in May with about 100,000 cases distributed through grocery stores "in a dozen states," with a national rollout expected to follow.