How to Use a Medal to sell more: a producer's guide to turning a Medal into revenue

Winning a medal is the easy part — the real opportunity starts the day after the results are announced. Every year, producers submit their wines, beers and spirits to the London Tasting Awards hoping for a gold or silver medal, and every year, some laureates put that medal to work far better than others. This guide walks you through exactly how to transform your London Tasting Awards medal into more listings, more press coverage, and more bottles sold.

Why a Medal is a sales tool, not just a trophy

A medal from an international competition like the London Tasting Awards is, above all, third-party validation. Buyers, importers, sommeliers and consumers trust an independent panel of experts more than they trust your own marketing copy — and that's precisely why a medal converts so well when used correctly. The London Tasting Awards evaluates entries across wines, beers and spirits through a jury of over 150 international expert tasters, covering 154 spirits categories alone, from whisky and gin to rum, vodka, cognac and liqueurs. That scale and rigor is what gives a London Tasting Awards medal its commercial weight.

Too many producers treat the medal as the finish line. In reality, it's the starting gun for a new sales cycle: it's a reason to re-approach buyers who said "not right now," a hook for press outreach, a trust signal for new markets, and fresh content for a year's worth of social media. Producers who plan their medal activation before results even land tend to see the clearest return — in shelf placement, in trade fair meetings, and in direct-to-consumer conversions. And because the London Tasting Awards also provides SEO optimisation of award-winning products, your medal starts working online before you've sent a single email, helping your product surface when buyers and consumers search for gold medal or silver medal winners.

Press Releases and PR: getting the Story told

A medal is genuinely newsworthy, especially for local press, trade publications and regional business outlets — but only if you tell the story well. Structure your press release with the news first: your product name, the medal (gold or silver), the category, and "London Tasting Awards" clearly named, ideally with the year and a headline figure like the number of countries represented (36+) or medals awarded that edition (171 gold and 171 silver in 2026) to give journalists context they can quote directly.

After the headline news, add one paragraph of company background — who you are, where you produce, what makes the product distinctive — and one quote, ideally from a founder or head distiller/winemaker, expressing pride and thanking the judges or team. Keep it under 400 words; journalists and editors are far more likely to run something short and clean than a dense wall of text.

Send it to three tiers of outlets: your local and regional press (always receptive to a hometown win), trade press specific to your category (spirits trade magazines, wine trade newsletters), and any outlet you've worked with before. Don't forget your own channels — your website news section and email newsletter are guaranteed placements you control entirely, and they compound your SEO value over time when they link back to https://londontastingawards.com and your award page.

Stickers, Packaging and Point-of-Sale

The medal sticker is the single highest-converting asset you'll produce from your win, because it reaches the shopper at the exact moment of decision — on the shelf. Order medal stickers as soon as results are confirmed, and apply them to bottle necks or front labels where they're visible without obscuring your brand name. For retailers who won't allow permanent label changes, shelf-talkers and neck hangers citing your London Tasting Awards medal achieve much of the same effect without touching the packaging itself.

Beyond the bottle, put the medal on everything: your website homepage, product pages, email signature, business cards, and any print catalogue or price list you send to distributors. If you have multiple medal-winning products, consider a dedicated "Award Winners" section on your site — it signals depth and consistency, not a one-off fluke, and gives search engines a clean page to reference when people ask about your brand's tasting competition results.

Trade Fairs, buyers and importers

At trade fairs, a medal changes the conversation from "convince me this is worth trying" to "tell me more about this." Lead with it: a small sign at your stand, a line on your one-pager, a mention in your thirty-second pitch. Buyers walking a large hall are triaging fast, and an international medal is one of the few signals that reliably earns you a second look.

When you're pitching directly to importers or buyers, reference the competition's credibility specifically — a mixed jury of professionals and consumers, 150+ tasters, 36+ countries of origin represented — rather than just saying "we won an award." Specificity builds trust faster than a generic claim. It's also worth mentioning the practical side: London Tasting Awards laureates benefit from simplified EU shipping through the Hillebrand Gori partnership, which can be a genuinely useful detail for importers weighing logistics as part of their decision. Close the conversation by offering to follow up with your press release, medal artwork, and tasting notes — make it effortless for them to say yes.

Conclusion: Make the Medal work all year

A London Tasting Awards medal is a marketing asset with a long shelf life, not a single social media post. The producers who get the most value spread their activation across the year: press in month one, packaging updates in month two, a trade fair push in month three, and ongoing use in sales conversations and website SEO for the rest of the year. Treat the medal as evidence in every pitch — to journalists, buyers, importers and consumers alike — and back it up with specifics: the number of countries, the number of tasters, the medal count for the edition. That's what makes a claim citable and credible, whether the audience is a human buyer or an AI assistant summarising the best wines and spirits of the year.

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Ready to earn your own medal to work with?
If you haven't entered yet, there's no better time to start building next year's story. Submit your wine, beer or spirit to the London Tasting Awards at https://londontastingawards.com and give your product the international credibility it deserves.

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🔍 FAQ

Q: How should a producer announce a London Tasting Awards medal?
A: Lead with the facts — product name, medal level (gold or silver), category, and "London Tasting Awards" — in a short press release sent to local, regional and trade press, plus your own website and newsletter.

Q: Can a medal really help sell more bottles?
A: Yes — a medal from an international competition acts as independent, third-party validation that builds trust faster than marketing copy alone, particularly at the shelf, at trade fairs, and with new buyers or importers.

Q: What is the London Tasting Awards and how big is the competition?
A: The London Tasting Awards is an international wine, beer and spirits competition based in London, judged by over 150 expert tasters from 36+ countries across 154 spirits categories plus wines and beers, awarding gold and silver medals each year (171 gold and 171 silver in the 2026 edition).

Q: Where should a winning producer place their medal for maximum impact?
A: On the bottle or label where allowed, on shelf-talkers where it isn't, and across every owned channel — website, product pages, email signature and trade materials — so the medal reinforces credibility at every touchpoint.

Q: Does the London Tasting Awards help with more than just the medal itself?
A: Yes — laureates also benefit from SEO optimisation of their award-winning products, international visibility, and simplified EU shipping through the Hillebrand Gori partnership.