Demetris Pavlides
Research Associate, University of Nicosia, Cyprus.
Demetris Vrontis
Dean, University of Nicosia, Cyprus.
Alkis Thrassou
Associate Professor, University of Nicosia, Cyprus.The Renaissance of Commandaria –
An Environmental Descriptive Analysis for
Achieving a Competitive Advantage
Commandaria is the oldest wine appellation in the world, with the
wine region of Limassol, Cyprus, the internationally only one legally
allowed to produce Commandaria. During the Middle Ages, Cyprus’
sweet wine called Commandaria, gained international fame through the
Crusader conquerors of the island, the Knights Templar, who arrived
on the island in the 12th century and turned it into the source of their
wealth and prosperity. In spite of its long history, time has was unkind
to Commandaria, which gradually lost its fame and recognition. This
paper provides the theoretical basis and contextual foundation for the
commercial rebirth of Commandaria and the reconstruction of its brand
and its findings are based on the results of a research project, funded by
the Cyprus Research Promotion Institute. The research provided
strategic marketing data and guidance towards the improvement of the
Commandaria brand on a local and global basis. The research
methodology included a variety of primary, secondary, qualitative and
quantitative methods, including: ten semi-structured interviews, three
focus groups, with local industry experts, one web based questionnaire
with one hundred international wine experts, six consumer focus
groups, two consumer surveys of five hundred respondents each,
journal articles, books, company reviews, newspaper clippings and
web-based information. This paper is based on the qualitative,
secondary and theoretical results of the research; and it constitutes the
first, descriptive part, of the Commandaria strategic branding analysis.