Victoria has 22 distinct wine regions, each with differing varietals and wine styles. While this diversity is seen a great strength for the state, it has also been a challenge to market from a tourism perspective.
Narrowing the message about Victorian wine will sharpen the focus on our competitive advantages and enable Victoria to greatly enhance the appeal to both domestic and international wine tourists, who may be overwhelmed by the breadth of choice.
What are the five pillars?
The five proposed wine tourism pillars will aim to bring together premium food and wine experiences with other factors that have great appeal to the Chinese and US markets, namely coastal attractions and clean green natural beauty.
The five pillars are:
- Pinot Coast: including the Geelong, Gippsland and Mornington Peninsula regions
- King Valley Prosecco Road: focusing on the King Valley region
- Rutherglen Fortified Resurgence: focusing on the Rutherglen region
- Yarra Valley Culinary Destination: focusing on the Yarra Valley region
- Central Region: including the Bendigo, Heathcote, Grampians and Pyrenees regions
What will happen to develop these pillars?
To develop these pillars the following activities will happen:
- Research: will be undertaken to understand the various segments' understanding of and interest in the various regions and wine varietals within the Chinese and US markets
- Consultation: we will work with the regions and tourism stakeholders to understand the types of suitable products available and any gaps in the market that will attract these visitors to the region
- Planning: a plan will be developed to attract these visitors to the region
- Activate: marketing platforms, materials and products will be developed to attract these visitors to the regions.
Who is funding the project?
The funding for the project has been gained through the following parties:
- Australian Government
- Victorian Government
- Wine Victoria
- Pinot Coast regions: Geelong, Gippsland and Mornington Peninsula
- King Valley Prosecco Road region
- Rutherglen region
- Yarra Valley region
- Central Region: Bendigo, Heathcote, Grampians and Pyrenees regions
Project Control Board
The Project Control Board (PCB) has approved the appointment of the project management resources and the development of the Expressions of Interest for Brand Consultants for the project. The PCB members are:
- Eliza Brown - Wine Victoria;
- Chris Gillard - Fortified Resurgence;
- Dean Cleave-Smith - King Valley Prosecco Road;
- Shae Keenan - Visit Victoria;
- Liz Hamilton - Food and Wine Victoria;
- Damien Sheehan - Shiraz Central;
- Ian Hopkins - Shiraz Central;
- Mike Symons - Pinot Coast;
- Caroline Evans - Yarra Valley Destination Plan;
- Diana Morgan - Visit Victoria;
- Amanda Ellery - DEDJTR;
- Holly Formosa - Wine Victoria; and
- Richard Howden - Wine Victoria.
What will happen next?
Wine Victoria has negotiated the funding contracts with the Australian and Victorian Governments and a governance structure has been set up to deliver the project.
Brand consultants for each of the five pillars have been selected, with successful agencies Redhanded and iSpy appointed. Redhanded will develop the Fortified Resurgence, King Valley Prosecco Road and Yarra Valley Culinary Destination Plan pillars, while iSpy will be responsible for the Shiraz Central and Pinot Coast pillars.
After extensive research and industry consultation, the brand development phase has been concluded and brand agencies have pulled all the insights together to come up with a brand position for each Pillar. These brand positions have been presented to the Working Groups for each Pillar.
The project is progressing at a rapid rate and is currently in the marketing and content development phase. The PCB is has a tender process underway to select a content agency, which will assist with the creation of the content. The agencies will create a distinctive design for each Pillar, which will help to differentiate the five Pillars for marketing activities, websites and events.
A content collection will be created for the Pillars, which will include photographs, video, maps, editorial and social media kits.
Media and publishing company Hardie Grant will be assisting with the development of the content, which will be used to assist with future marketing and communications.
The PCB have agreed to hold a trade/media event in the USA and a selection process is currently underway for a creative events company to assist with the event.
The next phase of the project will be exciting, as the brands will start to be used in both the domestic and international tourism markets in the coming months.
Read the Media Releases:
- Wine Australia media release
- Australian Government and Victorian Government media release