Comparative strategic positioning of grape harvest festivals: an AI-supported analysis of TikTok promotional videos from Ica (Peru) and Curicó (Chile)

The objective of this study is to compare how grape harvest festivals in Ica (Peru) and Curicó (Chile) are strategically positioned through their promotional videos on TikTok. A total of 52 videos were analyzed, including 36 from Ica and 16 from Curicó, posted between May 2023 and March 2025. The videos were transformed into key-frame sequences using Python, compiled into standardized PDFs, and processed with Claude 4.0 to generate objective narrative descriptions. These texts were cleaned, lemmatized, and integrated into a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework that assessed six key dimensions of strategic positioning: event scale, cultural authenticity, commercial orientation, community engagement, modernization, and traditional preservation. Grounded in representation theory and visual semiotics, the approach demonstrates how AI-assisted analysis of visual narratives can decode the symbolic strategies embedded in promotional content. The findings reveal distinct promotional positioning logics. The Ica Festival projects itself as an “Authentic & Large Scale” event, emphasizing ritual continuity, multigenerational community participation, and strong preservation of traditional practices such as grape-stomping and folklore performances. In contrast, the Curicó Festival highlights a “Commercial & Modernized” identity, with high sponsor visibility, professional staging, and advanced audiovisual technologies, while placing less emphasis on ancestral heritage. Positioning maps show that both festivals occupy complementary rather than directly competing niches: Ica appeals to heritage-driven cultural travelers, while Curicó targets experience-seeking enotourists. The study contributes to positioning theory by showing how AI-based video analysis can reveal promoter-driven branding strategies, and it provides managerial insights on balancing authenticity and modernization in festival promotion.