DEVELOPING REGIONAL MARKETING PROGRAMMES
Marc Allgrove – Consultant/CEO – McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association (MVGWTA)
Introduction
The MVGWTA is representative body comprised of over 700 levy and fee paying members drawn
from the region’s grape growing, wine making and tourism operators along with a limited number
of suppliers to these industries.
As an incorporated body the MVGWTA operates under a constitution, overseen by a board elected
from the membership and managed by a small executive team (2 FTE, 1 x 0.6 FTE, 1 x 0.4 FTE plus a
two consultants providing management and financial services).
Charter
The MVGWTA’s charter is to preserve, protect and promote McLaren Vale and its brand for the long
term development and benefit of its members, the region as a whole and more broadly the state of
South Australia.
Challenge
The large number of members and stakeholders all of disparate scale, interests, level of involvement
and stage of development gives rise to significant challenges in the generation of support for
strategic direction and the implementation of regional marketing initiatives.
The underlying principle that all activity must fundamentally have an ability to raise the profile of the
region is in itself a concept that requires continual reinforcement.
Strategy development principles
The strategy developed by the MVGWTA is based on a clear understanding of who it is representing,
what it is promoting and how it will aim to measure its success. It is also based on the principle
requirements of genuine opportunity, shared belief, common identity, defined roles, agreed
outcomes and access to necessary funding, all communicated in a focused, consistent and simple
manner.
The importance of understanding the region’s brand, values, assets and issues informs the strategic
development at every stage.
Vision
McLaren Vale to be recognized as one of the great wine regions of the world.
This goal leads with the wine heritage of the region but relies on a defined and promoted
destination driven by McLaren Vale’s landscape and tourism offering to be realized, including its
food and art culture along with its coastal location.
Brand
Branding and its consistent application is an important element of all activity, however it is
important to understand the delineation between a brand and a logo. A logo without the backing of
a relevant, substantiated and constantly reinforced story and reason for being is simply a mark
which will garner the support of some, receive negative reviews from others and at all times
consume too much resource. Invest in the brand to substantiate the logo.
Method
The realisation of the vision is incumbent on agreed key messaging, key audiences and key actions.
Eg : McLaren Vale
Key messages
Wine – Red – Shiraz & Grenache
Food – markets – restaurants
Landscape & its sustainability – environmental stewardship and improvement
Key markets
Consumers, trade, media, industry, government
Australia – SA, NSW, VIC
International – US, Canada, China
Key actions
UNESCO World Heritage bid
ISO14001 accreditation
SAW – development & accreditation
VALO – launch
SCARCE EARTH – single vineyard wines
Key events
Sea & Vines
Wine show / Bushing Lunch
Prowein
Vancouver International Wine Festival
Examples
SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA WINEGROWING – The programme, initially called Generational Farming
was established five years ago with an ambition to change the way people think and approach the
management of their vineyards, to ensure the long term viability of McLaren Vale as a wine
producing region, and recognising the need to for continuous improvement in all practices. The
success of SAW, its broad adoption in McLaren Vale and the interest it is generating beyond the
region would not have been achieved without the support of the local grape growing community
during the development phase of the system and throughout its implementation.
In 2015 the programme produced a 9.1% improvement in overall sustainability amongst
participants, established itself as the only sustainability system for viticulture in Australia, broadened
its audience across the country and became accredited to the Winemakers Federation of Australia’s
Entwine trust mark.
Sustainable Australia Winegrowing represented 116 McLaren Vale growers in 2014, covering over
4,000 hectares across the region or 185 distinct vineyard sites. These sites are 38% of the area under
vine in the region, producing over 50% of McLaren Vale’s grape crush or 2.4% of South Australia’s
vintage.
On a varietal basis the importance of Shiraz to McLaren Vale was reinforced with 54.4% of the
vineyard area represented planted to this variety, and almost 90% of the acreage committed to red
grape production. In fact Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Mourvedre accounted for just
over 82% of the production participating in the programme. Further evidence of the value of the
programme can be found in the prices wines produced from these vineyards are achieving in the
market with over 65% of the red wines produced selling for over $15 a bottle, with almost 40%
selling between $20 and $30.
Representation in 2014 - The relevance of the programme and the importance of broad based input
from regional operators in the development of systems such as Sustainable Australia Winegrowing
were reinforced in 2014. The full spectrum of farming systems from conventional (22.4%) to certified
biodynamic production (4.3%) are represented in the results, with low input conventional practices
including IPM principles almost 60% of participants. Furthermore as with the whole Australian wine
community, almost 50% of Sustainable Australia Winegrowing members farmed vineyards of 10
hectares or less with only 4.3% operating properties in excess of 100 hectares.
Importantly continuous improvement was very evident across all assessment parametres with
category 4 (excellent) sustainability rising from 19.3% to 25.9% whilst category 2 (good) fell to 11.3%
from 22.7% as participant practices improved.
The results in 2014 were impressive for the overall result, a 9.1% improvement in sustainability, as
well as the specific increases in all seven of the measured categories. Pest and disease management
amongst participants led the increases with a 12.5% improvement, with soil health (+10.43%) and
the management of waste (+9.10%), biodiversity (+8.7%) and water (+3.2%) all making significant
contributions.
Importantly the value of measuring development on a social and economic level also gained support.
The social relations component of Sustainable Australia Winegrowing returned an 8% improvement,
whilst economic sustainability introduced in 2014, whilst not mandatory generated involvement by
almost 80% of participants.
Today SAW is recognised as the leading programme of its type in Australia, sought after by operators
and regions across the country. The spirit and intent of its creation is being propagated by McLaren
Vale offering it and the learnings achieved along the way to the Australian wine community,
reinforcing the region’s leadership of, and commitment to the future of Australian wine.
UNESCO World Heritage Bid – recognises the intrinsic values of the region, is relevant to all
operators and the pursuit of accreditation provides promotion on a national and global platform
over an extended period.
ISO 14001 accreditation – exploring the ability for a region to attain ISO accreditation builds on the
established leadership McLaren Vale possesses in the management of and commitment to long term
environmental, economic and social sustainability.
SCARCE EARTH – delivers a high value relevant consumer interface for the quality of the regional
produce, the uniqueness of the regional diversity and the growing depth of understanding within the
regional community of the land for which it is responsible.
Issues
Understanding – Inbound and outbound understanding underscores the majority of issues faced by
the regional Association. Appreciation of the limitations and expectations is important.
Communication – Regular and relevant communication regarding developments, issues and
opportunities nurtures the relationship between the Association and its members and stakeholders.
This can take the form of bulletins, websites, social media, one on one meetings or broader format
consultation. It is important that the communication is relevant, if not the level of consumption will
fall and the ability to reach members drops away quickly.
Eg – MV’s weekly bulletin is sent to over 1,000 recipients and current open rates are just over 52%.
Facebook posts regular average 30 – 100 likes, amongst over 10,000 followers.
Collaboration – Partnering and working with stakeholders is also a fundamental tenet to the success
of regional associations. In themselves sufficient resources, funds or influence rarely exist to
maximise their impact or fully realise the responsibilities with which they are charged. Federal, state
and local governments along with industry associations are invaluable partners to leverage resource,
broaden reach and source funds. Furthermore robust networks deliver improved communication
channels and better understanding.
Eg – MV works closely and has received support from PIRSA, SATC, SAWIA, AGWA and CoO. It also
supports and is supported by FPT and Fleurieu Food.
Measurement – Being outcome focused leads to better understanding and provides relevant
communication opportunities. Finding and agreeing the appropriate measurements is challenging.
Eg - In the case of MV it is more so as important tourism data is not collated for the region, therefore
visitation, expenditure and investment trends are difficult to track. Wine related measures are
provided by the Australian Grape & Wine Authority and the Phylloxera Board of South Australia,
however the development of the McLaren Vale region and brand is equally incumbent on the
understanding and appreciation of its tourism, food and art dimensions. To that end work is under
way by the City of Onkaparinga to develop greater understanding of the tourism value within its
boundaries and the Association is encouraging regional cellar doors to provide monthly visitation
numbers which will be anonymously aggregated to provide indicative visitation trends.
Leadership – The function of leadership is an important element for representative organisations.
Both for the individuals in the relevant positions including the board and the executive but also for
the positioning of the Association. The nature of membership organisations dictates that diverse
opinions will exist all based on varying levels of understanding, it is therefore imperative that
leadership sets and articulates vision, is prepared to explain the decisions and actions put in place to
achieve the vision and accepts responsibility for successes and failures along the way.
Summary
The McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association operates to preserve, protect and promote
the region and its brand. The disparity and number of members and stakeholders provides
challenges to strategic development and implementation. The Association delivers on its charter by
an agreed understanding of the region’s core values, assets and issues, a focused and simple
approach and strategies and actions that reinforce the brand and its values consistently. The
importance of collaboration, understanding and communication cannot be underestimated and the
benefit of all three will not be fully realised without good leadership.