SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE WINE COMPETITION

September 2016 - March 2022

Overview

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest wine competition in North America. Over 6,700 wineries from over 1,000 wineries across North America submitted entries during the 20th Anniversary in January 2020. Sixty-five judges evaluate all the wines and declare the award-winning wines. During President’s Day Weekend, the annual Public Tasting event welcomes a crowd of 4,000+ to taste the award-winning wines in Fort Mason Festival Pavilion.

My Role

Under the San Francisco Chronicle’s Marketing Team, I’ve overseen all branding and creatives from 2017 - 2022. The 6-month marketing campaign begins in September as we target wineries to submit entries and culminates in February as we ask consumers to help celebrate the award-winning wines during the Public Tasting event.

Identifying the Goal

Promoting a consumer-facing wine event in February through a 6-month campaign starting in September where 200+ wineries are pouring samples during a 3hr span.

Identifying Problems

Getting consumers to see the value of $70 ticket, months before the event
Bringing in a younger demographic 21-24 yrs + 25-34 yrs to the event
Showing the actual Wine Competition and promoting the winning wineries
Improve better event experiences for internal use + consumers

Evolving Concepts

Two components remain the same in the creative: the logo lock-up and the Futura font family; besides that, the concept and brand are open to evolving, annually.

2017 - I was responsible for all creatives of the 2017 program; from concept, execution of print & digital campaigns, and event signage of the Public Tasting.

2018 - While managing a Summer Graphic Design Intern, I mentored them as they helped develop the concept utilized for the program, months before the campaign began. As the intern was focused on concept exploration, I was able to introduce a new aspect to help improve the consumer experience during the Public Tasting: a directory map. With the team-approved concept finalized by the intern, I sought out that the concept was brought to life throughout the creatives of the 2018 program.

2019 - Managing another Summer Graphic Design Intern, I mentored their process of concept development. This again allowed me to introduce a new aspect of updating the program website’s front-end design and their social media branding presence. Once the concept was finalized, I executed all the creatives of the program with the intern’s vision.

2020 - In the 20th anniversary year, I managed a Fall Contract Graphic Designer through the initial concept development stages. I finalized the concept and brand colors for the remaining campaigns. Seeking assistance from another Graphic Designer on my team on event signage, I was able to introduce a new aspect of styling and formatting the printed version of the Award-Winning Wine Listings, spanning 2,200 entries over 15 pages.

2021 - With the pandemic, although the Public Tasting Event had been canceled, all other facets of the annual campaign responsibilities remained the same. A new addition to the campaign was a video promo to show highlights of the wine judging that announced the award-winning wines. Working with a videographer, I helped provide branded motion graphics to their edited video clips.

2022 - In the second year of the video promotion component, we created a long-form video to help sell towards potential clients and a short-form video for social media advertising. Both videos were expanding more animated graphics content.

2020 Wine Competition Campaign

Focusing on the consumer attendance for the Public Tasting in February, (3) main campaigns utilized print + digital assets to get people to access WineJudging.com, the program’s website where winners are announced and Public Tasting tickets are sold at discounted prices during an Advanced Pricing period. To help expand the audience reach, I created an Animated Social Video Ad to run during the campaigns.

Print + Digital Campaign Metrics

Print Impressions in 2020: 6.0 Million + (4.0 Million + in 2019)

Digital Impressions in 2020: 2.7 Million + (2.25 Million + in 2019)

Social Media Promotion

Annually, The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Judging Event occurs over a span of a week where 40+ judges are tasting over 1,000 different wines. In 2021, it was the first year where we brought in a videographer to help capture the highlights of the week. I would then add branded animated graphics to package up the videos for publishing.

Social Campaign Metrics

Social Media Impressions in 2021: 3.19 Million + (2.0 Million + in 2020)

WineJudging.com

All CTAs of the entire marketing plan lead to the the Wine Competition’s website: WineJudging.com. Consumers are able to find out winners for all years of the competition, photos, news, Public Tasting tickets and details. As the campaigns progressed into February, I updated slider images to help direct consumers to newly announced winners and Public Tasting information.

Website + Social Media Update Proposals

Prior to the 2019 Wine Competition program, I was able to propose to the event organizer an updated look and feel to WineJudging.com. As WineJudging.com had a legacy logo (clip-art figure with golden wine glass) prior to the San Francisco Chronicle’s involvement, I proposed that the logo be retired and that a simplified version of the program logo (Chronicle C with “Wine Comp”) be utilized. This proposal expanded into the program’s social media presence. My proposals were approved and have been implemented, ever since.

Award Badges

Introduced in 2017, I created Award Badge assets for the award-winning wines to have access to on WineJudging.com, after the winners were announced. The branded award badges helped promote the program as wineries would promote their accolades.

Public Tasting Guide

In January of 2020, my involvement in the Public Tasting Guide expanded as I took on the layout and formatting of the top 2,100 award-winning wines. In addition to finalizing the cover page annually, I took on the new role to help improve the readability for consumers. Once the winners were announced, a 2,300 line spreadsheet was compiled for me to work off of. I worked in detail to improve the display of the listings across 15 total pages. The Public Tasting Guide was provide to all San Francisco Chronicle subscribers a week before the Public Tasting and was handed out to all 4,000 Public Tasting attendees.

Public Tasting Event Signage Set Up

With the concepts I finalized being executed in the Public Tasting Event Signage by my colleague, I still organized the logistics and layout of the large-format signage within the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion. Working diligently with my print vendor for delivery and the Fort Mason staff, I was able to manage the installation of the 11 banners within the 50,000 square feet of space.

Public Tasting Event Signage

Accompanying the hanging banners within Fort Mason Festival Pavilion, were foam core posters, parking lot directional signs, and individual Winery Signs for the 250+ vendors pouring at the event. Included in the signage, was the Directory Maps I developed and help with logistics for the consumers to help locate specific wineries they may be looking for. The double-sided Directory Maps stood 6ft tall throughout the venue.

Name Badges

To help stand out amongst the 4,000 attendees, I finalized Name Badges for VIP Guest Judge Hosts, Management Staff, and VIP Attendees.

Thank You Print Ads

In post-event of the Public Tasting, the final campaign of the Wine Competition marketing plan is a “Thank You” print ad to acknowledge the wineries, sponsors, and attendees. Curation of event photos is ensued in the following days of the Public Tasting.

Event Metrics

Event Impressions in 2020: 5,000 (3,500 in 2019)

Survey attendees in 2020: 18.4% 25 to 34 years old (16.0% 25 to 34 year olds in 2019)

WineJudging.com