Saint Derycke’s Winery & Vineyard
Situation
Marketing hadn’t really crossed the minds of John and Sue Rappell, owners of boutique winery Saint Derycke's Wood (SDW), situated in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Opening the cellar door on weekends and public holidays was doing a brisk trade, but John and Sue wanted to develop a business model that had more passive sales, more wholesale orders – and with customers coming from further afield.
Objectives
• Develop marketing strategy and timeline
• Raise awareness in wine media of Southern Highlands wine region
• Generate 5% of business from website sales
• Increase restaurant purchases by 5%
Campaign
Working with Sue & John, JGW developed a marketing strategy and timeline that earmarked certain tactics for development, including a website, database, direct e-mail campaigns, a newsletter and tasting notes. It also proposed specific publicity in the media, including wine reviews, as well as ‘hand-selling’ the wine into local regional restaurants.
The Southern Highlands is a developing wine region, so it made sense to try and exploit wine writers’ natural curiosity. Rather than re-invent the wheel JGW also worked closely with the Southern Highlands Tourism Board to see that the region as a whole benefited
Results
JGW persuaded the wine reviewer of Australian Wine Selector magazine to take a visit to the Southern Highlands and have a look around.
Although the article focused on many of the wineries in the Southern Highlands John Rappell was quoted extensively, when other winery owners weren’t quoted at all. The Saint Derycke’s Merlot was described as ‘one of the best ever tasted’.
JGW also wrote the copy and designed a website for SDW, which helps promote their wines. Visitors can order online and it gives cellar door visitors an easy point of reference for repeat business. The website is set to expand, working with local restaurants to offer food-matching recipes, as well as integrating with an internet-based database that makes permission-based direct e-mail marketing quick and cost-effective.
The same medium was also being used to distribute the SDW newsletter, being sent out to customers on a quarterly basis. It’s a great way of keeping the SDW name top of mind with customers and drives repeat business.