Becoming the Pinot Coast
Tania’s success can be attributed to her analytical and creative smarts, calm demeanour, focus and professional sincerity. When working on our project, she demonstrated a deep understanding of the industry combined with a clear strategic process, which our workshop attendees appreciated. Tania managed to unite a vast and disparate group of regional stakeholders on a singular unique brand proposition which was —for all intents and purposes— a miracle! Her deep experience in qualitative research shone through, as she distilled large amounts of information into meaningful insights for our destinations. I would highly recommend iSpy to any brand seeking a robust yet compelling brand strategy (you won’t get any fluff or jazz hands with Tania!).
Holly Formosa - Wine Tourism Brand Manager | Wine Victoria
WINE VICTORIA AND VISIT VICTORIA have embarked on a bold plan to position Victoria as a premium wine producer and destination of the world. Five key 'wine pillars' form part of this strategy and the Pinot Coast is one of them.
APPROACH
This region is a vast geographic region stretching from Geelong and the Surf Coast, through Mornington Peninsula right through to the far reaching eastern shores of Gippsland. That's 800km of coastline and hundreds of wineries, vineyards, vignerons, wine styles, tourism operators, assocations and local councils. Bringing such a diverse group of passionate business people together under one unified banner is a challenge, requiring a commitment to engagement, listening and flexibility. Together with our design strategy partner Cupla, we employed our seven step process which leans heavily on the use of objective facts, research, stakeholder engagement and collaboration, we found a way through.
OUTCOME
This is not about 'logos' but about a position that promises an exceptional style of wine, a unique style of experience and an evolving style of engagement that can and will be delivered across the coast by independent wine makers and tourism operators. This is not about usurping the strength of the individual wine brands in the region but about strengthening them with a brand promise that leverages their shared truth of 'Australia's wilful south coast' and why the location is perfect for the Pinot Noir product and a perfect wine destination for the international visitor. But this is about nailing the seven key ingredients of any successful destination brand.
1. Competitive position
2. Sense of place
3. Signature product
4. Signature experience
5. Key narrative streams
6. Key visual mneumonics and style
7. How to execute all of the above.
An excerpt from the brand playbook below shows some of the seven key ingredients . In our opinion it's Step Seven that is so often forgotten in brand strategy for destinations (and collectives, by that we mean place brands- tourism regions, councils and the like) iand therefore why there are so many good strategies collecting dust on marketing managers shelves. But that's another story, I need a glass of Pinot Noir for that one.
THE RESULT?
A brand strategy that is currently being successfully employed to bring attention to Australia's south east coast.
