FISCAL 2018: 4th
QUARTER REVIEW
Celebrate the Wines of British Columbia
reviews the work of the BC Wine Institute during each quarter of the fiscal year.
This 4th quarter review covers activities that occurred during January, February and March 2018
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Miles Prodan
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BCWI
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ine & Food Tourism Strategy 2016-2019
BC has never been in a better position to grow its wine and culinary tourism market. Wine and food tourism is on the rise globally. With award-winning wines, amazing cuisine and incredible destinations, BC has the potential to evolve into a go-to destination for wine and culinary tourists.
Currently, 80 per cent of visitors to BC's primary wine touring regions already have had an exceptional wine touring experience, and wine touring is a primary driver to plan a trip. Wine and food have long been the perfect pairing. We have learned that wine tourism is a far more compelling reason than food tourism to visit a destination, but once people are in the destination, wine and food become equally important to creating a great experience, each amplifying the other.
The
BCWI Wine & Food Tourism Strategy 2016-2019 outlines for doing just that. In alignment with Destination BC, Regional Marketing Organizations and wine & food tourism providers and operators across the province, we're heightening awareness of BC as a wine and food destination and growing the marketplace for our local providers.
With continuing engagement from these stakeholder groups at all levels, the strategy is designed to grow wine and food tourism across all BC wine producing regions, with emphasis on locations where wine touring has the strongest draw. Read on to see what we're up to.
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MESSAGE FROM | MARKETING DIRECTOR
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Kim Barnes
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Wine and Food Tourism Target Audiences
The Explorer Quotient (EQ) is an award-winning tool developed by Destination Canada, which provides insights into why and how different people like to travel. EQ examines people's personal beliefs, social values and views of the world, to understand why different types of travellers enjoy similar travel experiences in entirely different ways. The BCWI is using this very useful tool to help focus our marketing efforts on visitors most likely to visit and appreciate the destination of BC Wine Country.
BCWI research has identified that Authentic Experiencers and Free Spirits are the primary target audience for Food & Wine Tourism and will be the focus for our Fiscal 2019 marketing efforts.
Free Spirits
Free Spirits love fun and excitement in their travel experiences and adventures and are the visitors most interested in wine and food tourism.
Learn more
Authentic Experiencers
Authentic Experiencers seek new experiences and cultures. They want to escape to a place that is authentic, to see a destination like it really is - not the "packaged" place some destinations present. They want to meet the winemaker, the producer and the chef.
Learn more
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MESSAGE FROM |COMMUNICATIONS CONTENT MARKETING DIRECTOR
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Maggie Anderson |
BCWI partnered with the BC Grapegrowers' Association, the BC Wine Grape Council and the BC Wine Authority for the first annual BC Wine Industry Insight Conference. The theme of the day was Building the Future, Together. Our seven speakers delivered presentations on timely, relevant, insightful topics to more than 180 attendees with feedback indicating that the content was well received. You can view the presentations at the following
link.
Our industry is growing and changing at a rate like at no other time. We have a focused approach to producing and promoting quality wines. We've received government support through the implementation of industry-led recommendations including four new wine regions officially recognized as Geographical Indications, with more to be announced later in the year.
 Following the Insight Conference, the industry again came together to give input into the direction of a Long-Term Strategic Plan and what should be included. Industry stakeholders provided a common understanding of the issues, factors, considerations, and challenges that should be addressed within a strategic planning process.
The aim was to define and document the specific goals, deliverables, features, functions, tasks, deadlines, and ultimately costs of a long-term strategic plan for the BC wine industry. Five townhall sessions were held across the province engaging 126 industry participants. A trade and media round table, a wine agent session and a select few industry one-on-one interviews were held.
An online survey was completed by more than 200 industry participants. The results of this engagement are being compiled and analyzed. The industry task group will be reviewing and making recommendations to the BCWI Board of Directors in the coming weeks. The report will be available to industry and posted on our
website
in the early summer, including announcements on next steps and the development of the BC Wine Industry Long-Term Strategic Plan.
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MESSAGE FROM | BCWI MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER
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Laura Kittmer
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This last quarter saw an exciting start to 2018. Media relations focused on a number of national and international events, sponsorships and activities gaining media exposure worldwide.
These activities included: participation in the Dine Out Vancouver and Dine Around Victoria and Thompson-Okanagan food festi
val media launches reaching more than 70 media throughout the province; a
BCWI hosted Winemakers' dinner for 14 influential Canadian Culinary Championships Gold Medal Plates Judges; a Wines of Canada Masterclass at ProWein in Dusseldorf Germany, hosting 100 international trade and media in collaboration with the Canadian Vintners Association, Wine Marketing Association of Ontario and Winery Association of Nova Scotia; and an organized in-region familiarization tour for Hong Kong media guest Stephen Lau.
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Canadian Culinary Championships 2018 |
On February 6, Alberta Premier Notley announced a ban on BC Wine imports, which the BCWI took the immediate response in developing and implementing a BCWI media protocol to manage and control the key messaging in support of the BC wine ind
ustry. A complete suite of media communications including five media statements and releases, a Q&A and media backgrounder were created and disseminated to media resulting in more than 57 media interviews and hundreds of print/web articles, radio and news broadcasts.
For a timeline of events and to see a complete media summary
click here. For media statements and releases
click here.
Under the Wines of Canada banner, the
Wines of British Columbia
were featured at ProWein 2018 in Düsseldorf, Germany March 18 through 20; it was the largest turnout of Canadian wines in the show's history, including 29 Canadian wineries from British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. In addition to the Wines of British Columbia being featured in the Wines of Canada pavilion, Dr. Janet Dorozynski, John Szabo MS and Treve Ring facilitated a Wines of Canada Masterclass: Discover Canada's Sparkling and white wines, for more than 100 savvy wine buyers and media. Each day, Dr. Jamie Goode hosted a mini-tour of the Wines of Canada pavilion providing an added opportunity for key buyers and media to taste our terroir-driven wines.
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 MEDIA REPORT |
Q4 SUMMARY OF COVERAGE
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Direct and indirect media coverage of the BC Wine Institute, its members and the Wines of
British Columbia reached more than 293 million readers and viewers from January 1 through March 31. Value for media coverage totaled $13,498,286.
HIGHLIGHTS IN THE NEWS
News highlights from January through March:
For a summary of media highlights from the Alberta Boycott on BC Wine,
click here.
For a list of media coverage generated from January 1 through March 31,
click here.
PRESS RELEASE ROUND-UP
In order to ensure the Wines of British Columbia stay top of mind in key markets and to make sure consumers and industry remain informed on issues affecting the wine industry, the BC Wine Institute regularly issues press releases to a group of more than 300 media, primarily in Canada and the US.
Press releases issued in Q4 are located in the Media section of WineBC.com.
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MARKETING MANAGER REPORT | Q4 Summary
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In March we launched our new website. The goal of the project was to unify separate industry (WineBC.org) and consumer (
WineBC.com
) into a single, mobile-optimized asset with faster response times. We also incorporated new imagery for a fresh, modern web experience. In the short weeks since the launch, we are seeing visitors stay longer on the website especially in our Trip Planner section. The WineBC.com website ranks as the top three results for users who Google "BC Wineries" and is, therefore, a key component supporting our tourism strategy.
In addition to the website upgrade, we have released an update to our Wines of BC Trip Planner app. The app works in tandem with the Trip Planner section of the website so that consumers can plan their wine country vacations and take it with them on their mobile devices. We also dedicated resources to contacting wineries to make sure their profiles were complete and up to date.
In 2018, the three major wine and dine festivals BCWI sponsors all happened simultaneously over the January 19 to February 4 period. Dine Out Vancouver, Dine Around Stay In Town Victoria, and Dine Out Thompson Okanagan saw more than 390 BC VQA Wines from 125 wineries exclusively paired and available to savour at more than 170 restaurants in Vancouver, Victoria and the Thompson Okanagan.
Big Taste Calgary was March 2 through 11 and featured 90 participating restaurants and 12 signature events focused on exclusive pairings with BC VQA Wine at top-tier restaurants.
Throughout March, Wine and Food Tourism campaign materials "Don't Just Sip There. Come Discover BC Wine Country." were implemented into all 28 CO-OP Wine Beer Spirits Liquor stores in the Calgary area.
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MARKET DASHBOARD | BC SALES REPORTS (IN LITRES)
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To see available sales reports from the fourth quarter, click on the links below.
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SOCIAL MARKETING REPORT | WINEBCdotCOM
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Ashley Spilak |
During Q4, social media promotion focused on a number of campaigns ranging from consumer, trade, industry, and advocacy supporting the growth of the BC Wine industry.
Each campaign was executed using customized visuals and accompanying key messages to help drive engagement and growth.
Main themes included:
* Dine Around Victoria, Thompson Okanagan and Dine Out Vancouver social media campaigns
* Chef Meets BC Grape 2018 digital marketing campaign including Valentine's Day promotion; Vancouver, Calgary, Okanagan
* Canadian Culinary Championships social media campaign
* Alberta BC Wine social media communications (Alberta boycott-related)
* Inaugural BC Wine Industry Insight Forum communications campaign
* Awareness campaign for the BC Wine Industry Long-Term StrategiC Plan; survey and town halls
* BCWI membership promotion
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Platform
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Audience |
New Audience |
(+/-) % |
Total Engagement /
Reach / Likes
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(+/-) % |
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Facebook
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10,799
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+ 2,911
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+ 37% |
12,061 / 49,417 / 3,124 |
+ 254% |
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Twitter
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10,947 |
+ 323 |
+ 3% |
1,420 / 63,836 / 4,737 |
+ 45% |
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Instagram
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5,205 |
+ 476 |
+9.2% |
8,358 / NA / 8,099 |
+ 39% |
Compared year over year, referral traffic from the BC Wine Institute's social media channels to WineBC.com website continues to grow; Facebook saw a 1,935% increase, Twitter saw 701%, and Instagram saw a 241% increase.
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WINE COMPETITIONS |
Q4 RESULTS
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Each year, BC VQA Wine and certified 100% BC grape wine are entered into dozens of wine competitions where they show extremely well. In Q4, the results are posted on our website. Here are the highlights:
DOUBLE GOLD (1)
Noble Ridge Vineyard and Winery King's Ransom Meritage 2014 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
GOLD (2)
Noble Ridge Vineyard and Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Ursa Major Borealis 2014 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
25th Chardonnay du Monde (Burgundy, France) - March 2018
DOUBLE GOLD (1)
Noble Ridge Vineyard and Winery King's Ransom Meritage 2014 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
GOLD (3)
Nk'Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Chardonnay 2016 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Kalala Organic Estate Winery Chardonnay Icewine 2016 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
BEST OF SHOW
Wild Goose Vineyards Pinot Gris 2017 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
BEST SPARKLING WINE
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery Seven Stars Sparkling Wine
2015 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
DOUBLE GOLD (BEST OF CLASS)
Wild Goose Vineyards & Winery Mystic River Gewürztraminer
2017 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
GOLD/BEST OF CLASS (5)
Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery Dry Rock Sauvignon Blanc
2017
BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Hillside Winery Muscat Ottonel 2017
BC VQA
Okanagan Valley
Lake Breeze Vineyards Sèmillon 2016
BC VQA
Okanagan Valley
Tightrope Winery Riesling 2017 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Wild Goose Vineyards & Winery Pinot Noir 2016 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
DOUBLE GOLD (6)
Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery Classic Riesling
2017 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Lake Breeze Vineyards Roussanne
2016 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Lake Breeze Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2017 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Lake Breeze Vineyards Winemaker Series Sèmillon/Chardonnay 2016 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
Tightrope Winery Pinot Gris 2017 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
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British Columbia Wine Institute: Visit us online at
WineBC.com
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Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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