Niagara Benchlands Wineries
Over the past few months, we've been hard at work building a marketing strategy for Niagara Benchlands Wineries — one rooted in research, driven by big-picture potential, and made to work in real life. Here's a look at how we approached the project.
Our North Star: Billions in Untapped Potential
Before anything else, we listened and learned. We interviewed stakeholders, reviewed tourism data, explored comparable wine regions, and dug deep into the local and visitor mindset. What we discovered shaped every part of this strategy. This included the review of a few key documents produced by consulting firms, census data, tourism and trade information, data produced by Niagara Economic Development, and much more.
Our research uncovered that in a region welcoming over 13 million visitors annually, only a fraction engage with its wine industry — despite wine tourism contributing nearly $2 billion to Canada's economy each year. That insight, included in our 403 pages of research material, helped ensure every strategic recommendation we made was data-backed and considered the opportunities for this organization from as many angles as we could imagine.
Methodical not Magical
From brand identity and storytelling to campaign planning and tactical assets, we moved through each element of the work step by step. No fluff. Just focused, actionable deliverables designed for long-term traction — a necessary approach in an industry where fewer than 1 in 5 wineries report having a formal marketing strategy in place.
We asked 30+ wineries with 30+ different sets of objectives, ideas and experiences to buy into what we were putting on the table. Our first approach to this work yielded a fairly traditional results - we tore it up. When we considered how broad and firm the adoption would have to be, we decided to be radical and bold - reinvent the wheel, as it were. There was no room for something common, this needed to feel fresh and different and something that the Niagara Benchlands Wineries could uniquely own and embody.
Built for Doers
We didn’t create a strategy that requires a full-time team and a million-dollar budget to execute. We built something smart, nimble, and entirely deployable by the people on the ground — volunteers, committee members, part-time staff. This is a strategy that works in the real world.
We understood that we were working with an operational volunteer board of directors - they are invested but this is off the sides of their desks, they are light on time. We also understood that we were working with individuals with significant marketing priorities inside their organizations - a stale and static concept was never going to be adaptable enough for broad adoption. By going rogue, by typical wine tourism standards, and demonstrating a willingness to do things differently, we built an easy to adopt and work with brand that has loose rules for deployment and an encouragement to proverbially let your hair down a little. Marketers get excited about working with flexible assets that have easy guardrails to stay in line - that is exactly what we built for them.
Deployment Ready
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this work is that we took the report the extra mile by writing in a robust implementation plan. We took the guess work out of good marketing by identifying when the metrics were telling them to pivot, how to action a strong social campaign with these assets, how to establish a sub-brand, etc. The mechanical bits and pieces that can get a marketing team stuck in analysis paralysis aren't factors here, the guidelines are explicit in what is good and productive work towards their common goals.
And we knew that mattered. In past projects, we’ve seen that when implementation plans are clearly defined, adoption increases by up to 40%. We weren’t about to leave this one to chance.
In all, this strategy took us weeks of reading, listening, learning and understanding to pull together. We got halfway, threw it in the shredder and tried again. We believe very deeply in the recommendations we made to the Niagara Benchlands Wineries, and more than that, we believe in that group of passionate wine industry professionals to drive this strategy to results.
We're buckled in and ready for this ride - you too?
Hughes&Co delivered an exceptional, comprehensive plan that combined in-depth market analysis, innovative strategies, and clear, actionable steps. The final deliverable exceeded our expectations, providing not only a roadmap for growth but also an inspiring and impactful presentation for both current and potential members. On time, on budget, and with expertise, Hughes&Co gave us the tools and confidence to develop our brand and ensure long-term success.
– Ruth Peters, Board Chair
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