How building a brand community expands possibilities

Clovely Estate Cellar Door in the South Burnett pre-dinner drinks

When you build a genuine brand community, a wide network of people become supporters and brand advocates. That’s not only great for sales but also gives everyone working in the organisation a greater sense of purpose. Read how one Lloyd Grey client, Clovely Estate, has built a community and turned its brand into the driver of a far-reaching circle of influence.

It starts with genuine passions

With Clovely Estate, the beliefs and passions of the founders, Brett Heading and partner Susan Mercer, spill over into everything and invigorate their brand.

It’s not just their obvious passion for fine wine and food. It’s their agricultural background and having a sense of solidarity with other producers. It’s loving the South Burnett region and wanting to support their community. It’s enjoying the arts and being inspired to do something to help nurture a vibrant creative scene. It’s knowing Queensland can be a producer of some of the nation’s best wine and being determined to demonstrate that.

The Clovely Estate brand would be just another bottle of wine without the aspirations, connections and community spirit that go into it.

Capturing the essence

When Clovely Estate first made contact with Lloyd Grey through the Queensland government’s Ulysses program, they knew they were about sharing regional wine and food but the true depth and potential of the brand hadn’t yet been realised.

A decade later, the brand is one of the most-awarded Queensland wineries and the company has diversified into connected activities that all help support each other and the brand. Even export markets have opened up with countries like China and India keen to taste this boutique Australian wine.

Through all of this, the passion for sharing Queensland’s outstanding produce and celebrating the South Burnett region have been the brand touchstones, captured and brought to life by Lloyd Grey’s brand development work.

Connecting communities

The brand passions and communities are interconnected in a myriad of ways.

At the City Cellar Door in Red Hill the South Burnett comes to the city with degustation dinners featuring local producers. The food (imaginatively prepared by executive chef Mike Kirwin) and wine is also the distinctive difference for Clovely Estate’s functions and events. Sunday Sound Bites bring together food, wine, musicians and the local Brisbane community.

Brisbanites also visit the wine region and perhaps stay at one of the Clovely Estate cottages. As well as seeing the source of the Clovely Estate wine and olive oils, the visitors support other growers and the tourism industry in the region.There’s potential for the brand to be part of larger food and wine trails in Queensland-wide initiatives.

Susan Mercer and some of her staff can often be found sharing insights and tastes on the winery’s stand at regional food fares, which bring many producers and communities together in enjoyable participation.

The wine labels, designed by Lloyd Grey, feature the brand’s celebration of the South Burnett and the work of local artist Claudia Husband.

As the different brand passions interact, the community expands and the company is a conduit for many of the things its founders care most about.

Clovely Estate brand community connections info graphic diagram

A new venture born from brand values

The COVID-19 restrictions brought a sudden new challenge for this company that brings people together for dinners, social and corporate events at its City Cellar Door.

The Clovely team were devastated for the producers of all the specialty food that features on their menus. How could they continue to support the growers and avoid massive food waste?

The answer for Clovely was a new store, ‘Forage Pantry Provisions’. The pop-up new venture selling specialty foods and high-quality pantry items was ideal for the local Red Hill community and surrounding suburbs at the time of lock-down. Mike Kirwin also created a range of delicious ready-meals to give some much-needed culinary pleasure through the difficult times. The store has been such a success that it is now a permanent part of the Clovely business.

Real food and wine by real people

The brand positioning has found a natural niche with the many people who care about the source of their food, about supporting artisan local producers and about supporting the arts.

It inspires people who like to share the best of Queensland with friends and visitors. It touches those who want greater connection with the land, even when they live in the city.

It creates an intricate web of mutual support based on the heartfelt concerns of its founders.

It brings a story of community and of timeless shared occasions to every glass and plate.

Find out more about building a brand community and increasing your possibilities. Contact us