MediaLink

Indiana Wine Trail

Down the Lazy River Southeast Indiana Marketing Organization approached MediaLink to develop and launch a wine trail through its five member contiguous counties in 2004. Existing Visitor Studies were reviewed, and an audit of the five county winery product and supporting visitor services was conducted. MediaLink found that although each of the region’s six artisan wineries had robust affinity groups, there was a potential synergy between the wineries and surrounding communities that could offer a wine trail experience and translate to increased regional visitation and wine sales for the boutique wineries.

MediaLink determined that the communities’ quaint historic charm and Ohio River Scenic Byway location, interesting artisan winemakers, excellent boutique wines, entertaining winery events, the early wine history of the region and the proximity of three major metro areas could emerge as major travel motivators for the Southeast Indiana region. The bureaus funded the Trail development and launch with the hope of creating a product that the winery consortium could conduct and maintain in the future.

The Indiana Wine Trail development project included the creation of a trail through the 5 participating counties, production of a rack card and color brochure with route map, design of a travel reward Passport Program, creation of a marketing plan and a media plan, creative direction for ad production, ad placement, and the launch of the Trail through a series of special events for the public and the media. Resulting editorial was featured in local, regional, state and midwest publications. The management and marketing of the Trail and Passport Program eventually became the responsibility of the regional winery group, and the Indiana Wine Trail continues to positively impact the region in 2010.