According to the 2025 Circana report “Stretch for Success,” modern brands thrive on elasticity—expanding and adapting. The wine industry, however, remains static, relying on tradition rather than data, AI, and personalization. This failure to innovate risks alienating modern consumers and threatens the sector’s long-term resilience as global consumption patterns change.
There is one word the wine world does not like to hear: elasticity. Yet, according to the latest “Stretch for Success” report by Circana (2025), this is precisely the key to today’s winning brands: brands capable of expanding, reinventing themselves, and staying true to themselves without becoming self-referential or anachronistic. And wine? It still just… makes wine. And that’s it.
Wine brands don’t “stretch”: they curl up into a ball
While the world’s most dynamic brands are experimenting, testing, and redefining their identity, much of the wine industry remains trapped in a comfort zone of terroir, tradition, and storytelling repeated ad nauseam. Circana describes winning brands as “elastic brands,” capable of:
- adapting to emerging trends and generations;
- using data and technology to (truly) understand consumers;
- and above all, offering personalized experiences that build loyalty.
In wine, however, personalization almost always stops at the “limited edition” label or the numbered wooden box. No data platforms, no digital dialogue, no real experiential innovation.
While others use AI and insights, wine still talks about grandma and the vineyard
Circana insists on one point: brands that innovate grow seven times faster than static competitors. Yet wine, in 2025, remains one of the least digitized sectors in premium consumption. Tech companies experiment with predictive AI and real-time personalization; wine, meanwhile, entrusts its “innovation” to an Instagram post overlooking the vines. There is more data in the CRMs of a shampoo brand than in all of European wine marketing. And in the meantime, the consumer changes, and wine does not follow.
Authenticity yes, but without courage it’s just an excuse
Circana emphasizes that authenticity remains central, but it must be accompanied by consistency and the ability to expand without losing oneself. Wine, instead, hides behind its authenticity as if behind a stone wall. Every time a category extension is proposed (de-alcoholized wine, ready-to-drink cocktails, cross-sector collaboration), a part of the industry cries sacrilege. But in the meantime, Absolut collaborates with Heinz and Dolce & Gabbana designs toasters for Smeg. Who is betraying their identity, and who is amplifying it?
Elasticity does not mean selling out
Today’s winning brands don’t lose their soul: they stretch it. Circana cites Nike, which used its strength in sportswear to enter tech and casual wear. Why can’t a great wine brand become a lifestyle, experiential, technological, or even wellness brand? Perhaps because it has never invested in a vision of the future, but only in the celebration of the past.
If wine doesn’t innovate, people will drink less and less of it
Circana concludes that elastic brands are more resilient and more loved in difficult times. And wine, with global consumption in decline and generations perceiving it as “adult, expensive, and complicated,” needs exactly this: resilience through change. Storytelling about hills and barriques is no longer needed: what is needed are strategies, data, alliances, experiences, and cross-pollination. Because if wine doesn’t “stretch,” sooner or later it will break.
Key points
- Successful brands are “elastic”; wine brands remain static and traditional.
- Brands that innovate grow seven times faster than those that don’t.
- Wine lacks data, AI, and personalization, unlike other CPG sectors.
- Elasticity means amplifying identity (like Nike), not betraying it.
- Wine needs resilience through change as global consumption declines.
