Wine Sales to Benefit (Product) Red AIDS Fight

Red, the effort to fight AIDS in Africa, is teaming up with its first alcoholic beverage partner, which also happens to be its first marketer partner from Australia.Fifteen percent of the proceeds from the sales in North America of two Penfolds wines, Thomas Hyland and Koonunga Hill, will be donated to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the company and the (Red) organization are to announce this week. (Red) donates the money it receives to the Global Fund.

The announcement is to be made at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in Palm Springs, Calif., of which Penfolds is a sponsor. The catalyst for the agreement is Francesca Schuler, chief marketing officer for the Americas at the Napa, Calif., office of Treasury Wine Estates. She formerly worked at Gap Inc., which has been a partner of (Red) for many years.

“I was at Gap a long time, where I saw the success of (Red) and its business model,” Ms. Schuler said in a phone interview on Tuesday, particularly of the organization’s “being a true partner with a brand.”
Penfolds “is looking to aggressively grow in the Americas,” Ms. Schuler said, and the partnership with (Product) Red is part of those plans.

“It doesn’t hurt Penfolds has a red cap,” she added, laughing. There have been eyebrows raised in the past when money is raised for causes by the sale of alcoholic beverages. Examples include complaints about donations tied to the sale of mixed drinks at bars.

“We haven’t had any concerns so far” along those lines, Ms. Schuler said. “People are excited about the partnership.”Susan Smith Ellis, chief executive at (Red) in New York, echoed Ms. Schuler. “Clearly, we all thought about that,” Ms. Ellis said, referring to the potential issues that may be raised by the organization’s ties with alcoholic beverages. “We’re not trying to sell this to anyone under age.”

The partnership with Penfolds could come in handy, she added, because (Red) has been considering a wine auction as a fund-raiser, inspired by an art auction that it held with Sotheby’s. The other marketers with which (Red) is teamed up, in addition to Gap, include American Express, in Britain; Apple; the Converse and Nike units of Nike Inc.; Emporio Armani; Hallmark, in the United States; and Starbucks.