WSET Diploma in Wine & Spirits
Candidate assignment brief – April 2015
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Aggressive discounting in the wine market.
CONTENT, SUGGESTED APPROACH AND SECTIONS IN THE REPORT:
1. Context
The aggressive discounting of price to promote wine in some key national retail
environments has become common practice. It is controversial, and whilst it has
apparent financial benefits for the consumer there are implications for others in the
supply chain. It has been damaging for the long term commercial sustainability of some
wines (e.g. Liebfraumilch, Sherry and certain branded New World wines) whilst, so far,
Champagne appears to be immune.
2. Strategy and required sections
a) Presentation and structure:
Assignments should include a declared word count and a bibliography correctly
referenced throughout the body of the text.
b) Introduction – the purpose of aggressive discounting:
The candidate should describe the various reasons why price cutting is used in the
retailing of wine. What are the various forms that this discounting can take?
c) The positive and negative effects of aggressive price discounting:
The candidate should evaluate the positive and negative effects of aggressive price
discounting of wine from the point of view of all those involved in the supply chain from
producer to consumer via wholesaler and retailer.
d) The effect of price promotion in the Champagne market:
The candidate should explain how Champagne manages to retain its prestigious image
in spite of some producers using aggressive price discounting in some markets.
e) The effect of price promotion on other categories of wine:
The candidate should select a product category (such as Liebfraumilch, Sherry and
certain branded New World wines), where they think price discounting has had a
significant negative impact on image and profitability in some markets. For their
chosen category, they should describe what impact aggressive price discounting has
had. What remedial action has, or could be, taken to address this?
MARKING
Structure:
The report should be of between 2500 and 3000 words in length (not including
appendices, tables or diagrams) with a declared word count and bibliography which is
correctly referenced throughout the body of the assignment. Appendices are for the
exclusive inclusion of charts, diagrams, tables etc. Allocation of marks will be as
follows:
Section a) – including structure and style (coherence, flair, fluency, use of examples),
bibliography showing diversity of evidence of research which is used appropriately and
correctly referenced, presentation (spelling, grammar, legibility) 20%
Section b) – Introduction 10%
Section c) – The positive and negative effects of aggressive price discounting 20%
Section d) – The effect of price promotion in the Champagne market 25%
Section e) – The effect of price promotion on other categories of wine 25%
Examiners will be looking for
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Explicit evidence within the body of the assignment of careful and thoughtful study of
the course materials plus additional evidence of diverse and relevant research.
Evidence that information for the assignment has been drawn from both the trade
press and other industry sources.
Examples and information to justify arguments made in the assignment
Evidence that the information and examples uncovered by research have been the
subject of careful study, analysis and reworking before being deployed in the
assignment
Good presentation and clear thinking. This includes good layout, contents lists and
references.
Evidence of original and reflective thought.
Candidates must address all required sections and gain an overall minimum mark of
55% to qualify for a pass grade.