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Starting a wine buzz in Ohio.
Imagine a campaign that could help turn a product’s image around – and turn
up sales in key venues by more than 200%.
Ohio wines needed an image makeover. The public perceived wines from Ohio as
being mostly sweet, cheap and low in quality. But with over 90 wineries
throughout the state, many are growing vinifera grapes grafted from Europe and
making exceptional varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot
and Riesling. In fact, one Riesling from Ohio won as “Best White” in a
California competition, ranking higher than hundreds of wines from all over the
country. Hard for the public to believe, but true.
This was an ideal opportunity to start a buzz with true marketing public
relations – seamlessly blending advertising, PR, publicity and events.
The Ohio Grape Industries Committee – part of the Ohio Department of
Agriculture – hired R/P to create an image-boosting TV campaign. R/P created two 30-second
spots showing consumers choosing an Ohio wine over more popular wines from
California and Australia. The stories played against a catchy soundtrack of the
‘80s hit song, “Tempted by the Fruit of Another” by Squeeze.
The TV campaign helped significantly increase visits to Ohio wineries and the
OGIC Web site, prompting vintners to boost wine production by 75% over the
previous year.
The marketing communications elements also started a buzz among the media.
Scene, a hip weekly magazine in Cleveland, featured a cover story titled
“Tempted by the Fruit of Another” about the growing quality of Ohio wines. The
Plain Dealer covered the Ohio Wine Challenge in Cleveland where Ohio wines
competed against European and California wines in a blind judging event, and a
number of regional publications started reviewing and recommending Ohio wines.
The growing wine buzz was so successful, OGIC provided additional funds for
R/P to create another TV spot promoting Ohio wines for
the holidays.
Pre- and post-campaign research showed that consumer perceptions of Ohio
wines offering “high quality” rose by nearly 10%. Better still, the increased
perceptions and overall awareness fueled greater sales. Purchases of Ohio wines
at wine shops quadrupled, and purchases of Ohio wines at restaurants and
beverage stores more than doubled. |
