Once we had a clear vision of the goals for the brand refinement, our team first started with an extensive audit of the existing Waltz Vineyards brand and marketing strategies. As residents and stewards of the land they farm, the Waltz family has a lot of passion for how their brand is represented. In order to honor its legacy, we dove into the history of the Waltz brand along with completing competitor research of others in the craft beverage industry before presenting a marketing roadmap, project timeline, and refinement recommendations to the Waltz family.

With our findings in mind, it was time for us to really hone in on what makes Waltz distinctive, choosing guiding words that embody what sets them apart. This exercise allowed us to check in with the Waltz family to ensure we had the right understanding of where they are coming from and where they want to go. Using these guiding words, we created refined brand messaging for Waltz to use in a variety of mediums, including an updated brand story that includes the narrative of the newest generation of the Waltz family and how their family-owned land and operation are evolving. As a business with such longevity, they had a lot of information presented in many different places, and our team helped organize and romanticize their story in a way that will connect audiences with their love of their land and the quality of their wines.

After finalizing Waltz's foundational messaging and using the collaborative roadmap to guide us, our team began working to refine the visual identity of Waltz Vineyards—again using the guiding words to inform the choices we made. The original Waltz Vineyards logo was refined to modernize the brand while preserving its rich legacy. The flourishes of the calligraphic “W” were smoothed and tapered to enhance the flow and balance of the letterform. A new serif typeface was introduced for the logo type, incorporating modern characteristics while preserving its original elegance. The updated color palette also reflects Waltz Vineyards' personality, keeping their signature red and paring down to supplementary earth tones that add organic elements to the brand. The palette was chosen and named to give nods to some of the hues found throughout the winemaking process—from vines to grapes to glass.

With both the verbal and visual refinements in place, we focused on updating some of their key print materials: the tasting menu, the rack card, and the wine club brochure. The imagery we chose was rustic, alluding to the messiness of the earth, as well as people-oriented, showing the connection and family that remain important to the Waltz brand. Our goal was to tell the story of the land through the eyes of those working it, and each piece helped to organize information and incorporated the refined messaging and branding.