Marketing & Promotion Plan

The Drink Show - NSW Edition is supported by a structured, multi-channel marketing campaign designed to attract an engaged audience of wine buyers, cellar door visitors and trade professionals.

The focus is on quality of audience rather than crowd volume, ensuring wineries connect with guests who attend to discover, taste and purchase.

Promotion is targeted across Newcastle, the Hunter and Central Coast, supported by digital campaigns, media partnerships and direct industry outreach.

Target Audience

Marketing is directed toward guests with a genuine interest in boutique wineries and cellar door experiences, including:

✔ Wine lovers and collectors
✔ Cellar door visitors and wine tourists
✔ Hospitality professionals and venue operators
✔ Sommeliers and wine buyers
✔ Retail buyers and bottle shops
✔ Distributors and industry contacts
✔ Local professionals and premium lifestyle consumers
✔ Trade and media with wine focus

This ensures exhibitors connect with purchase-ready consumers and relevant trade, not just general event visitors.

Media & Digital Campaign

The campaign combines digital marketing, media exposure and event listings to drive awareness and attendance.

✔ Official event website and landing pages
✔ Paid social campaigns (Facebook & Instagram)
✔ LinkedIn promotion targeting wine industry and trade audiences
✔ Email marketing to targeted subscriber lists
✔ Google search visibility
✔ Event listing platforms and online guides
✔ Tourism and lifestyle websites

Media & Local Partnerships

✔ InTouch Magazine (print and online)
✔ Newcastle Live (print and online)
✔ Hunter Hunter (online)
✔ VisitNewcastle.com.au (tourism promotion)
✔ Wine industry event listings and association calendars
✔ Local press and event listings
✔ Dedicated collaborative marketing with participating exhibitors

These partnerships support both regional awareness and targeted audience reach, including wine-focused consumers and industry professionals.

Venue & Local Promotion

The event is promoted in collaboration with the venue and local networks, including:

✔ Venue website and event listings
✔ Showground social media and EDM campaigns
✔ On-site signage and local visibility
✔ Community event calendars
✔ Poster placement across targeted venues and high-traffic locations throughout Newcastle
✔ Visit NSW tourism and visitor information channels
✔ Regional wine tourism promotion (Hunter & surrounding areas)
✔ Local business and lifestyle networks

Trade Attendance Strategy

Trade attendance is driven through targeted industry outreach and direct invitation, focused on qualified buyers and decision-makers.

A key component is the NSW Liquor & Gaming licence database (19,000+ licence holders), enabling direct engagement with licensed venues and operators across the Newcastle region.

This ensures the Show attracts active trade participants - not passive foot traffic.

Targeted Trade Outreach

✔ Licensed venues & operators
Targeted invitations via the NSW Liquor & Gaming licence database

✔ Retail & off-premise buyers
Independent bottle shops and retail groups

✔ On-premise & hospitality
Venue operators, groups and hospitality professionals

✔ Distributors & wholesalers
Importer, distributor and supply networks

✔ Wine trade & industry
Sommeliers, wine buyers and industry contacts

✔ Media & trade registrations
Accredited media and industry sign-ups

✔ Tourism & cellar door networks
Regional operators and visitation channels

Trade Preview Access

The dedicated Trade Preview session provides wineries with early access to industry attendees in a focused, lower-volume environment - prior to the public session.

Exhibitor Participation (Important)

Participating exhibitors play an important role in supporting the overall success of the event. This is a collaborative marketing platform, not a passive listing.

Exhibitors are expected to promote their participation through their own networks, including:

✔ Social media promotion announcing attendance
✔ Email marketing to customer and mailing lists
✔ Invitations to wine club members and VIP customers
✔ Trade invitations to venues and buyers
✔ Ticket promotions and early bird offers
✔ Website and cellar door promotion
✔ In-venue and cellar door signage
✔ Providing media clips for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok

When all wineries promote their involvement, the combined reach significantly increases awareness and attendance.

Expected Attendance

The campaign is designed to attract approximately:

1,500 - 2,000+ engaged visitors

With limited exhibitor numbers, this supports strong visibility and meaningful interaction for each winery.

The Organiser delivers the core marketing campaign; however, exhibitor participation is an important component of overall attendance. The event is designed as a shared promotional platform.

This collaborative approach supports:

✔ Stronger attendance
✔ More targeted, wine-focused visitors
✔ Increased direct-to-consumer sales opportunities
✔ Greater exposure for each winery
✔ Improved commercial outcomes

The overall success of the event depends on a coordinated promotional effort from all participating wineries and distillers.

Future Event Priority

Exhibitors in The Drink Show - NSW Edition receive priority access to future events.

✔ First option on future Newcastle booth allocations
✔ Priority access to future NSW editions and AusDrink Trade Fair
✔ Early invitation to exhibitor applications

The AusDrink Trade Fair is planned as a national and international wine showcase, bringing together wineries from across Australia alongside a limited number of overseas producers in a curated, wine-led format.