AUSTIN, Texas (February 23, 2021) — Kerrville Hills Winery and Texas Heritage Vineyard both selected Big Thirst Marketing as their agency of record responsible for marketing programs to enhance winery growth. The marketing agency is tasked with helping each winery by implementing targeted marketing campaigns to increase direct-to-consumer sales in the tasting rooms and online. To ensure clients get the most strategic support possible the agency has hired wine industry marketing expert, Kristin Rice as marketing manager.Big Thirst Marketing started its engagement with Kerrville Hills Winery with a public relations project in 2020 and will continue to pursue media coverage for the winery as its agency of record. The agency is tasked with helping to increase the visibility of the winery, its key personnel, and its incubator members, attract new club members, and assist with selling more wine via e-commerce through content marketing, direct-to-consumer marketing, public relations, and digital advertising.
“I purchased Kerrville Hills Winery in 2019 and have transformed it from a winery to also a winery incubator to foster the development of talented winemakers,” said John Rivenburgh, winemaker and owner of Kerrville Hills Winery. “As a completely new business entity, we knew we needed expert marketing help to attract more people to try our wines as well as the wines made by our co-op winery members. Big Thirst Marketing has earned a reputation for having in-depth knowledge of the wine industry, stellar ability to help wineries grow, and as easy to work with. We’re super stoked to have them on our team.”
Texas Heritage Vineyard was drawn to Big Thirst Marketing for its extensive relationships with journalists and its ability to gain recognition for clients with public relations and influencer relations.
“After operating our winery for three years we knew it was time to hire a high-quality marketing agency to help us attract new customers,” said Susan Johnson, owner of Texas Heritage Vineyard. “We have ambitious goals for growing our winery and to achieve those goals we hired the best wine marketing agency in the industry. They have immediately jumped in to learn our business, recommend marketing strategies, and have set a course of action for content marketing and public relations.”
“It’s great to work with these two excellent wineries to help propel their growth during an inflection point in the wine industry,” says Matt McGinnis, president of Big Thirst Marketing. “People are changing how they buy wine. According to Sovos ShipCompliant, direct-to-consumer e-commerce accounted for $3.7 billion in wine sales in 2020, but the Texas wine industry online sales growth has not kept pace with other states. We’re committed to helping Kerrville Hills Winery and Texas Heritage Vineyard not only increase e-commerce sales but also attract more tasting room visitors with an integrated marketing approach.”
To continue to provide the highest quality strategic marketing service to its growing winery and distillery client roster, Big Thirst Marketing has hired a seasoned wine industry marketing professional. Kristin Rice joins the Big Thirst Marketing team from Dobbes Family Estate and its sister brand, Wine by Joe, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon where she served as brand marketing manager for both wineries. Rice employed her unconventional creativity coupled with a natural spirit of curiosity to develop compelling brand campaigns that achieved impressive results while working in the Oregon wine country over the past eight years. She holds a bachelor’s degree is in electronic, media, and communications with minors in English and art from Texas Tech University and is currently studying French and for her WSET Level 2 exam.
“As a sixth-generation Texan, I’m excited to return to my home state to bring my diverse marketing background in brand marketing, visual communications, and graphic design to Kerrville Hills Winery and Texas Heritage Vineyard,” said Kristin Rice, marketing manager at Big Thirst Marketing. “I intend to share fresh perspectives and a holistic approach and unifying a vision to design and copywriting in marketing campaigns for all of our clients. It is really cool to join an agency team that has three Oregon wine country veterans working in Texas.”
About Kerrville Hills Winery
Sitting at the highest point in Kerr County, overlooking the beautiful Texas Hill Country, Kerrville Hills Winery (KHW) was the first winery established in Kerrville. In 2019, John Rivenburgh purchased Kerrville Hills to establish a wine incubator; a communal space for educated winemaking accelerating boutique operations. John has deep roots in the Texas Hill Country, is an award-winning winemaker, and has a passion for growing high-quality, sustainable Texas grapes. Learn more about Kerrville Hills Winery on Facebook and Instagram.
About Texas Heritage Vineyard
Winery owners, Billy and Susan Johnson, started Texas Heritage Vineyard as a dream of creating a family-operated vineyard, winery, and tasting room that could be passed down to future generations. The Johnsons started by planning the first grapevines in 2015, and the estate vineyard now has twelve and a half acres of varietals such as Tempranillo and Tannat. The winery production facility was completed in the fall of 2017, is home to more than 400 barrels of wine, and is used for special Wine Club events. The Texas Heritage Vineyard tasting room, located at 3245 E US Highway 290 in Fredericksburg, Texas, opened in May of 2018 and is operated by daughter Jessica Allen. “Honoring our past, while celebrating the present.” This is the mantra of Texas Heritage Vineyard. With deep Texas roots, the owners of Texas heritage Vineyard strive to present wines made from grapes that love our state and thrive in our culture and climate. Connect with Texas Heritage Vineyard on Facebook and Instagram.
About Big Thirst Marketing
Established in 2014, Big Thirst Marketing is a full-service agency with an unquenchable passion for the beverage industry. The agency is built to help clients grow to the next level. Fostering relationships between food and beverage brands and loyal customers is what we do best. Our team of seasoned public relations, advertising, graphic design, web design, and digital media pros provides a combination of integrated marketing services and passion for the clientele industries we target. This mix of expertise and sincere appreciation for the brands we represent leads to campaigns that achieve business results. In addition, the agency is allied with Big Thirst Consulting to provide integrated business services for distilleries to pave the way to profitable growth. Join the conversation with Big Thirst Marketing on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Current and previous clients include: Black Button Distilling Co., Kerrville Hills Winery, Celis Brewery, Delysia Chocolatier, Fall Creek Vineyards, Fast Eddie’s Billiards, Fox & Seeker Distilled Goods, Little Woodrow’s, Mighty Swell Sparkling Cocktails, Milam & Greene Whiskey, Pedernales Brewing Co., Pedernales Cellars, Robert Earl Keen Beer, Ron Yates Winery, Ski Shores Café, Slate Mill Wine Collective, Sisterdale Distilling Co., Somms Under Fire, Spicewood Vineyards, Squabble State Distilling, Stone House Vineyards, Tequila 512, Texas Heritage Vineyard, Texas Wine Journal, Treaty Oak Distilling, Uncle Billy’s Brewery & Smokehouse, and Wedding Oak Winery.
