“Bubble” Bursts for the Winemakers’ Fund

The Winemakers’ Fund, an organization responsible for handling funds from wine sales, has faced a setback in its recent promotional campaign. The campaign aimed to bolster the sales of domestic sparkling and effervescent wines and was represented by the symbol and name “Bublina” (Bubble). However, the word fund did not register the name ” Bublina, ” leading to an embarrassing situation.

“Bublina” was chosen by the council of the Winemakers’ Fund. In early October, news broke out that the fund chose this particular name from a list of suggestions given by advertising specialists to support the sales of sparkling and effervescent wines. The new brand was supposed to umbrella this segment of wines to better withstand the pressure of imported products, especially with Prosecco taking up a large chunk of sales in the local market.

The idea behind “Bublina” was to provide support for domestic wines with bubbles, either natural fermentation (sparkling wines) or artificially added by gas saturation (effervescent wines). However, when the information about the intention and its name appeared on October 9, the Winemakers’ Fund had not registered “Bublina.” It was not until October 26 that the fund applied for registration; by then, another application had already been sitting at the Industrial Property Office for three days.

According to Zbyněk Vičar, director of the Winemakers’ Fund, “Bublina” is just one of the name options. They have other alternatives, including graphic designs. Entrepreneur Jan Horešovský applied “Bubble” on October 23. Unaware of the intentions of the Winemakers’ Fund, Horešovský plans to use the brand for a bar specialized in selling sparkling wines.

Preparing the graphic design variants cost a quarter of a million, and they continue to work with them. The marketing communication is planned after the trademark is legally secured and the winemakers are familiar with it. The wines that meet the criteria of the new brand should be available in sufficient quantities on the market from the beginning of the promotion.