PREPARED BY:
Mackenzie Adams, Patricia Bernardo, Madison Judson &
Tori Sanderson
OVERVIEW
The Hare Wine Co. opened in 2016 and since then, it has been growing and expanding in the heart of Niagara-on-the-Lake. As the winery continues to grow and become more successful, it is vital that the winery adapts to the ever changing world of marketing to ensure it continues to thrive.
This communications plan will outline the winery’s strengths, weaknesses and potential opportunities it has to raise its brand awareness and create a steady flow of regular customers. Some of the strategies to help create more awareness around The Hare Wine Co. include offering more sensory related experiences, creating a distinction between the patio,the charcuterie eatery area and the retail store and tasting bar, as well as keeping regular customers engaged with self-hosted events at the winery and monthly promotions.
To evaluate the success of these strategies, the winery will keep track of annual sales increases, track social media engagement, monitor the sales of tickets for self-hosted events and continually monitor the success of the strategies in the following years to see if any changes need to be made.
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS:
● Have a unique building (use repurposed materials).
● #1 on TripAdvisor, Facebook and Yelp!
● Big tasting room perfect for events/weddings.
● Organic and balanced Instagram page.
● Offer free shipping in Ontario (12 bottle purchase).
● Raise money for community ($500 to red roof retreat).
● Amazing interaction with customers and different photo content on Twitter.
WEAKNESSES:
● Unclear brand story.
● No full kitchen on site.
● Can’t sell wine by the bottle to drink at winery.
● New winery- not as well known.
● Location (not in the downtown of N-O-T-L).
● Website is cluttered and is not aligned with brand story.
● Hire a lot of seasonal staff. Minimal full-time staff.
OPPORTUNITY:
● Increase menu options for patio
● Add new merch options with logo
● Create full-profit pop-up events at winery
● Create a “take time and experience the winery” vibe
● Have tour companies pay for tastings (premium)
● Increase customer engagement while at winery
THREATS:
● Other wineries have on site kitchens, which means they can stay open later.
● One of the 80+ wineries in N-O-T-L.
● Since it’s new, it’s also not very well known.
● Location (out of the way).
● No kitchen, can’t serve anything perishable.
RACE FORMULA
RESEARCH:
● In the summer of 2019, The Hare Wine Co. had its most profitable year, which led them to reevaluate different aspects of their business.
● They offer free wine samples to tour groups and wine tastings to customers priced under the industry standard.
● Customers would stay for tastings but did not purchase wine bottles or food.
● The winery has an open layout creating a lack of distinction between the three areas: the tasting room, eatery, and patio.
● Customers often overflowed and crowded into these areas during busy times.
● In 2021 weddings will no longer be able to take place inside but only in the courtyard.
● Strong social media presence and high ratings on travel websites however they lack movement on their channels (Instagram stories and live visuals).
ANALYSIS/ACTION:
Target Audience:
● Upper-Middle class Torontonians between ages 25-45.
● Upper-Middle class locals (Grimsby-Fort Erie) between the ages 25-65
● Middle-class Millennials between the ages 19-35 who seek experience over the products.
● Premium Local Wine Tour Companies.
What/Goals:
● Raise awareness and customer engagement through promotions and sensory events.
● Create a clear distinction between tasting bar, eatery and patio to create a unique atmosphere for customers to stay and enjoy themselves.
● Focus on creating a high-level customer experience to increase repeat customers.
● An increase in wine sales through both glass and bottle sales.
● Increase food sales.
● Create a cohesive brand strategy to communicate their story across all platforms.
COMMUNICATION:
● Create a social media plan and campaigns to attract our target audience.
● Develop event campaigns to increase customer engagement.
● Create clear and concise brand messages across all channels.
EVALUATION:
● Evaluate year-over-year sales growth from 2019 to 2020 analyzing wine glass, wine bottles and food sales.
● Using social media analytics to evaluate the increase in following through social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Trip Advisor) monitoring the engagement levels and reviews on those platforms.
● Monitor an increase in attendance through event ticket sales, memberships and repeat customers.
● Continue to evaluate sales and campaign tactics from 2020-2021 once the wedding schedule has changed.
TARGET AUDIENCES
The Hare Wine Co. can have multiple target audiences to sell products, sensory experiences and share our heritage with. Through our research, we found that there are three main target audiences that would help benefit the increase in engagement and product purchase at the winery. These three different groups include:
Premium Local Wine Tour Companies that pay for tastings and tours between the ages of 25-65.
Middle-class millennials between the age 19-35 who seek experience over the products.
Premium Local Wine Tour Companies that pay for tastings and tours.
The Hare Wine Co.’s primary target audience is people in the upper-middle class, who have more purchasing power than the majority of consumers. To really tap into that potential, you need to be able to market to the upper-middle class effectively since these are the people that are more likely to be repeat customers and are more likely to attend winery events. Finding ways to make experiences stick with this audience is crucial for The Hare Wine Co.’s success because upper-middle class Torontonians and locals are more likely to respond to marketing initiatives that focus mainly on the value they’ll get from your product or service over the price of products.
The secondary audience would be middle-class millennials who seek experiences over product purchase. To reach this key demographic, you may need to adapt your wine marketing strategies because this group has grown up with technology and constantly uses it when making purchasing decisions. Millennials might not be able to afford your most expensive bottle of wine but when they enjoy an experience, they’re more likely to post positive feedback on their social media because millennials crave authenticity. By targeting millennials while The Hare Wine Co. is still a younger winery, you can grow with this demographic and turn them into repeat visitors. Repeat visitors are valuable because they typically spend more time than first time tourists and pass along information to others via word-of-mouth or social interaction. The more organic following you can get on social media the more business features that get unlocked on your platforms which can increase customer engagement and revenue for The Hare Wine Co.
The final target audience is premium local wine tour companies that bring in customers that will spend money on your products. As a new winery, originally you were trying to bring in any customers that you could, but now that you’ve built a client base, having premium tour companies pay to use your winery as a tour stop will not only help improve revenue but also set a standard for wineries that have a more serious wine clientele.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
The Hare Wine Co. offers a beautiful property with spacious areas, perfect for large events such as weddings. There has been an increase in the winery booking these types of events, which has prompted a re-evaluation of the winery’s operations. The Hare Wine Co.’s goal is to be more strategic in the use of their space, which will lead to increased sales of their wines, and higher customer engagement and loyalty.
To achieve this goal, The Hare Wine Co. has developed specific objectives including:
● Creating and implementing more sensory experiences to be offered to both tour groups and the general public.
● Creating a more distinct separation between the patio/charcuterie eatery and the retail store/tasting area.
● Creating and implementing monthly promos and seasonal self-hosted events to keep customers engaged.
STRATEGIES & TACTICS
Strategy One:
The first strategy is to implement more sensory experiences into the services The Hare Wine Co. offers to its customers. When customers come to The Hare Wine Co., they will have the option to experience a sensory combination of a wine and food pairing, be it with a sense of smell or taste. On top of that, the sensory experiences could also be expanded into the other senses, such as sight, touch or hearing.
Millennials, being one of the target audiences, live for experiences. Offering more sensory experiences at the winery will not only increase the millennial audience but will also help the increase of promotion on social media, especially Instagram. Sensory experiences will definitely be Instagram-able moments for any millennials who come to enjoy them.
Tactic One:
The main way to get the message out about the new sensory experiences is through social media and The Hare Report (e-newsletter). Via The Hare Report, subscribers can find out about upcoming sensory experiences before the general public. This would also help encourage people to subscribe to The Hare Report.
On top of that, social media would be the major tool in helping spread the word about sensory experiences. Posting aesthetically pleasing photos of the food combos would work, but videos would also allow the food pairings to shine. Whether it be the preparation of the pairing or someone enjoying the pairing, it is bound to advertise it well.
Specific ways some of the sensory experiences could be advertised using social media and The Hare Report include:
● Providing subscribers with early bird tickets to sensory experiences or sensory related events.
● Posting iconic food pairings and encouraging followers to share their favourite pairings with the #sharewiththehare.
○ Incorporating other hashtags specific to sensory experiences.
■ #tastewiththehare, #hearwiththehare, etc.
● Short videos showcasing the preparation or results of the sensory experiences.
○ Slow motion preparation processes.
○ First person perspective of a group of friends enjoying one of the food pairings.
○ Showcasing customers playing their favourite songs on the piano at The Hare Wine Co.
○ Incorporating challenges into sensory experience events.
■ Blind folded food pairing challenges: the winner with the most points receives a free wine tasting or 10% off their next purchase.
● Creating specific sensory tasting events connected to holidays.
○ Christmas could include a “12 Days of Food and Wine Pairings”; each day has a new, unique food pairing for customers to enjoy.
○ Valentine’s Day could incorporate a guessing game event showcasing wines paired with different kinds of chocolates.
○ St. Patrick’s Day could have The Hare Wine Co. partner up with a local brewery for a sensory experience featuring a wine and beer combo.
○ Easter could offer a sweet, sensory experience with a sweet wine combination and Easter themed baked goods or chocolate.
Strategy Two:
The second strategy is to create a distinction between the three areas: the patio, the tasting room/retail area and the charcuterie eatery area through the use of promotional videos on social media and The Hare Wine Co. website. This will allow guests to see the different areas The Hare Wine Co. has to offer and the food and drink options in each space.
Most importantly this will capture the atmosphere of each space drawing customers in and allowing them to seek more information regarding these areas, creating an increase in sales and higher engagement with the target audiences.
Tactic Two:
The introduction of promotional videos through social media sites will be the most effective platform to communicate to millennials and an upper-middle-class audience. Showcasing the three different areas within the winery using Instagram using both Instagram grid posts and Instagram stories will help get the message across quickly and create a distinction.
The audience will be able to see that it’s not just a winery, but that it offers a wide variety of services that are specific to different areas throughout. Instagram is a great tool since it allows you to post a variety of content in unique ways to engage and inform your audience, and adding videos will create more movement throughout The Wine Hare Co. Instagram feed resulting in an increase in engagement levels.
Instagram promotional videos include:
● Video posts that showcase the different areas and specific promotional events, which can include events, gatherings, and monthly promotions for the patio, tasting room, and eatery area.
● Capturing guests enjoying themselves throughout these areas, such as drinking wine, eating on the patio, or partaking in an event will allow them to visualize themselves there, in turn wanting to visit the winery and experience it first-hand.
● Video countdowns – this can be altered to any area or promotion that is happening.
● Patio season countdown – this would be a great way to showcase the different areas during the springtime and the wineries busiest season. Using the hashtag #SpringToTheHare, create a series of videos showcasing the different things the patio has to offer.
The promotional videos will capture the audience's attention, and Information can be included in the caption on how to make a reservation and provide a link in bio about the specific area.
Corporate Promotional Video:
The Hare Wine Co. is a newer winery in the Niagara region and they need to tell their story, creating a longer promotional video that tells the story of the winery featuring the different areas throughout, the different types of wines they specialize in, words from workers and the unique experiences that they offer. This type of video can be displayed on The Hare Wine Co. website and pushed through social media. It will allow their audience to see the different experiences they could have and be more engaged with the variety of events the winery offers.
Strategy Three:
The third strategy is to create and implement monthly promotions and seasonal self-hosted events to increase customer engagement. By having regular touch points and ways to interact with customers, it will help establish a relationship and foster loyalty over time. Additionally, creating events specific to The Hare Wine Co. will strengthen their brand presence and engage customers in unique and fun experiences at the winery, leading to higher customer engagement and increased sales.
Tactic Three:
Monthly Promos
Monthly promos are a great way to interact and stay engaged with customers. This can include social media contests or offering discounts on wine and/or guest experiences. Social media and The Hare Report are the best ways to communicate these monthly promos to customers, as both will hit your different target audiences (social media will engage middle-class millennials aged 19-35, The Hare Report will engage upper-middle class customers aged 40-65). The types of discounts, rewards and special offers, and social media contests that can be implemented include:
Discounts, Rewards and Special Offers:
● Offer rewards through The Hare Report:
○ New subscribers – free tasting upon subscribing or 10% off wine purchase
○ Current subscribers – loyalty reward of 20% off wine purchase or free premium tasting for two.
○ Additional rewards for loyal subscribers:
■ 20% off if you refer a friend.
■ 15% off on your birthday (can be used once during your birthday month).
■ 10% off for a tasting, sensory experience or event.
Social Media Contests:
● Encourage interactions with customers through social media campaigns and offer contests that customers can enter via social media.
○ February (“Galentine’s Day” promo) – target female millennials between 19-35.
■ Use the hashtag #GreatHareDay – for customers that share an experience at the winery with their girlfriends/gal pals.
■ Promote a “Galentine’s Day” experience of a wine and chocolate pairing for two or up to four.
■ Instagram contest: Post the “Galentine’s Day” promo with the #GreatHareDay hashtag asking people to comment by tagging their best gal pal that they would take to the Galentine’s Day wine and chocolate pairing experience. Winner will be randomly chosen.
○ March (World Riesling Day on March 13) - showcase The Hare Wine Co.’s riesling collection and use the hashtag #sharewiththehare.
■ Prize package giveaway that includes a bottle of the Crown Land Late Harvest Riesling OR the Frontier Riesling with two wine glasses.
■ Instagram contest: Post a picture of both Rieslings and the two glasses of wine asking people to comment by tagging who they would share their Riesling with for a chance to win the prize package. Winner will be randomly chosen. Customers can do a bonus entry of sharing the post on their Instagram story, tagging The Hare Wine Co. and picking which Riesling they prefer. Customers that post a picture at The Hare Wine Co. enjoying a Riesling during the week of the contest will get another bonus entry.
Since The Hare Wine Co. is a young winery under five years old, it is still working on building its brand presence among the other small, medium and large wineries in the Niagara region. The purpose of these discounts/rewards and social media contests is to establish a connection with customers and build a relationship that will result in loyalty to The Hare Wine Co. For some customers, especially a younger demographic, they will be more willing to spend money if there are incentives attached, and more willing to stay with a brand if they are rewarded for their loyalty. Through these tactics, The Hare Wine Co. will build on its brand presence and grow its social media following and The Hare Report subscribership. Cultivating a strong base of loyal customers will set-up The Hare Wine Co. for potentially developing and implementing a wine club membership in the future (if it aligns with the brand’s business objectives).
Self-hosted Events
Self-hosted events are another way to increase The Hare Wine Co.’s brand presence among both locals and tourists. Events offer another value-add to customers than just wine and retail products – especially for the millennial target audience that tend to value experiences over product purchases. Events are a great way to get customers to try your products first and eliminate the intimidation of committing to a full bottle of wine. During these events, customers will be able to try different wines and see what they like, with the goal of converting their event experience into a wine purchase at the end. Event ideas that can be implemented include:
● Galentine’s Day wine and chocolate pairing – features four wine and chocolate pairings.
● Patio Parties – different patio-themed events throughout the summer:
○ Summer Solstice event – kick-off patio season and offer different food and wine pairings (i.e. pizza and wine, mini sliders and wine, dessert and wine, etc.).
■ Customers enjoy three different food and wine pairings.
■ Live music and entertainment.
■ Lounging areas.
○ Patio Pizza Party – customers will enjoy three different slices of stone oven pizzas with wine pairings.
■ Live music and entertainment.
■ Lounging areas.
○ Backyard BBQ – customers enjoy different BBQ/grilled creations (i.e. burgers/sliders, skewers, etc.) with a wine pairing.
■ Live music and entertainment.
■ Lounging areas.
● Movie Night – customers will enjoy an outdoor movie with popcorn, wine glass and a wine token to redeem a glass of wine.
● March Hare Madness: A Mad Tea Wine Party – customers will trade in their tea and biscuits for wine and charcuterie to hop into the Spring season.
○ Customers can book tables of four to six and will be served three glasses of wine and a charcuterie platter to share.
○ Customers are also encouraged to dress up in their fanciest “high tea” attire.
KEY MESSAGES
1. Invested in wine and invested in you.
The Hare Wine Co. is not just invested in our wine but our customers; we want them to feel as though their opinions and presence matters.
2. It is more than just a winery; it’s an experience.
The Hare Wine Co. offers a high level of customer service, customer vouchers and interactive experiences. We want to share our hare-itage with them.
3. A hop, skip and a jump away.
As NOTL is a major tourist area, The Hare Wine Co. is centrally located to both tourists and locals making them a go-to spot.
EVALUATION
It is important to continually monitor the progress of the communications strategies to ensure the tactics are on track to achieve the goals and objectives set out. A monthly review of objectives and results is important to allow for any changes to be made in real time to ensure the plan is moving towards accomplishing its goals. Some of the key milestones include:
● Increase in brand awareness
○ Do monthly audits of social media platforms to track increase in followers.
○ Review sites such as Google Reviews and TripAdvisor for increase in reviews given.
○ Develop a short survey that customers can complete after visiting the winery or purchasing products that gathers information regarding demographics (age, gender, local resident or tourist, etc.).
○ Track engagement and feedback regarding video promotions for the patio, the tasting area and the eatery.
○ Monitor social media to track customer engagement by use of The Hare Wine Co. hashtags (#sharewiththehare) and brand story language (i.e. Hare-itage).
● Increase in customer engagement
○ Track interactions on social media platforms (increase in likes, comments, tags in posts from customers on their personal social media, geolocation tags, etc.).
○ Track number of participants in social media contests.
○ Track growth of the Hare Report e-newsletter subscribers and click-open rates.
○ Track how many customers claim discounts, rewards and special offers.
● Increase in sales
○ Track tickets sold for sensory experiences and self-hosted events.
○ Track sales after sensory experiences and self-hosted events (to see if customers made a purchase after participating in a sensory experience or event).
Comments