October 31st, 2007
Regional wineries gather for second annual “license to steal”
Imagine the chief marketing officers of Ford, Daimler-Chrysler and GM getting together at a country retreat to discuss and share strategies on how to attract more buyers. Imagine them offering tips and tricks to their competitors, without a hint of hesitation or suspicion. Imagine they realize that because of an ultra-competitive consumer auto industry, they are rowing (or sinking) in the same boat.
Now imagine that the people in that room are not auto industry executives, but instead regional boutique winery and vineyard owners–farmers by trade who, because of a real fight-to-the-death struggle for consumer dollars, must band together to avoid being sunk one by one.
The latter example has taken place (officially) two years in a row in the resort town of Geneva, Ohio, where winery, vineyard and destination marketing managers from emerging wine-producing states in the Great Lakes region, as well as from North Carolina and Missouri, convened at License to Steal, the National Wine Marketing Conference.
The brainchild of a handful of state and winery association directors, the conference has blossomed from its early days of seven or eight decision-makers meeting in airport hotel rooms to a full-fledged, agenda- and seminar-driven convention that drew nearly 100 attendees this year.
“Our goal is that (attendees) leave … exhilarated, enthused and energized,” says Donniella Winchell, executive director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association and founding member of the License to Steal committee.
Add “Educated” To The Mix
The conference, with its multiple brainstorming sessions and brief, punchy presentations, serves not only as a catalyst for sharing best practices, but also as a sort of Marketing 101, outlining for the uninitiated the basic principles behind promoting a winery as a unique, year-round destination.
For years, smaller, regional wineries have focused on making wine and ends meet, rather than selling themselves as destinations, says Jenny Engle of the Pennsylvania Wine Association. “Nobody has a marketing plan.”
Winery owners either thought they had enough money for the plan and it disappeared, or they didn’t make time to hash one out, she says. The presentations at Licensed to Steal were designed to plant the seed for wineries looking to grow revenue streams.
Patty Held-Uthlaut of Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, Mo., attended the 2004 License to Steal Conference, where she learned that wine trails can be lucrative for all participants: They regularly bring in new visitors, and they help wineries through the so-called shoulder months–November through April–when tourism generally flags in the Midwest. If packaged correctly, they can build lasting brand awareness and customer loyalty.
Trouble is, wine trails are hard to manage, and the cost of starting a trail is not pocket change by small-winery standards. In addition, winery owners can be an intractable lot, and disagreements ranging from squabbles to all-out border wars are not uncommon.
The challenges notwithstanding, Held-Uthlaut and Stone Hill were convinced that the Hermann area was ripe for a wine trail. It’s home to seven wineries in Missouri’s most established wine-producing region, all within a 20-mile radius; dozens of bed and breakfasts, and within a reasonable proximity to a large metropolitan area (Hermann is approximately 90 minutes by car from St. Louis). In short, it’s a good long-weekend destination spot.
In January 2005, Held-Uthlaut and the other Hermann-area wineries formed a tax-exempt association, opened a bank account and agreed to charge a 2% “tourism surcharge” on all retail sales. Each winery would send the proceeds of that surcharge to the association as seed money. In four months’ time, the association had the capital it needed to begin marketing its trail. It hired a designer, printed brochures, devised an advertising campaign and began developing a Web site.
Hermann’s first trail event, in July 2005, drew 400 people at $15 per person. Held-Uthlaut expected the holiday trail event, slated for Nov. 19-20, to draw 800 at the same price-point. What’s more, the smallest winery on the trail, Bommarito Winery, has seen its sales increase by 50% since the trail began, according to Held-Uthlaut.
She also credits the trail for ending a dispute between two winery owners. Before the association formed, they could not stand to be in the same room. Now, they’re actually sitting across from each other during meetings and holding civilized conversations, she says.
The trail’s rapid success is nearly unqualified. Despite taking on the bulk of responsibility with no real sales increase to show for their efforts, Held-Uthlaut and Stone Hill have garnered media attention, and the Hermann area now has a new tourism director thanks, in part, to the wine trail.
Held-Uthlaut says unflappable leadership, willingness of bigger wineries to share information and an operating budget of between $45,000 and $65,000 per year will keep a trail organization strong and enable it to mature into a year-round destination.