The use of place and geography to market wine in Oklahoma

ABSTRACT

The use of place and geography in wine marketing is well documented. Oklahoma, a state not often associated with producing wine, contains many wineries that use place to market their products. These wine producers construct specific and generic place-based identities that appeal to local and non-local wine consumers. In this study, we take an in-depth look at exactly how Oklahoma wineries use place and geography to market their products. We employ qualitative content analysis to evaluate the websites of 39 Oklahoma wineries, specifically focusing on graphics and text on wine labels and winery logos. Our analysis reveals the predominant themes presented on labels and logos that clearly connect the wine and/or winery to its location. Examples include noticeable links to Oklahoma historic events (e.g. Land Runs, boomer and sooner references), Native American culture, and local natural hazards (severe weather, especially tornadoes) to name a few. Importantly, the geographic scale at which most place associations occur is at the state-level. Rather than constructing more localized regional identities (e.g. based on region, which is very common), these wineries have cultivated a decidedly Oklahoman sense of place.

KEYWORDS:

• Sense of place
• wine
• marketing
• scale
• geography
• Oklahoma

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the following wineries for allowing us to use their labels as our figures: Blue Coyote Winery, Chapel Creek Winery, Land Run Vineyard & Winery, Native Spirits Winery, Put A Cork In It Winery, Territory Cellars, Tidewater Winery, and Whirlwind Winery. Further, the authors greatly appreciate the constructive comments provided by the anonymous reviewers that improved this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCiD

Adam J. Mathews http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5577-4308

Jordan P. Brasher http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2621-5320