Implementing AR into Customer Journey at a Local Indiana Winery
Timeline: January 24 - April 18, 2022​
Keywords : Contextual Inquiries, Observations, User Interviews and Protocols, AR Prototyping, Storyboarding, Journey Maps, Adobe Aero
Capstone Objective
Explore how to implement augmented reality (AR) into the wine tasting experience at Wildcat Creek Winery to increase community engagement
Initial Research Questions
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How can a local winery implement Augmented Reality into the wine tasting experience to enhance the guest experience?
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Will implementing this technology help encourage community relationships with the greater Lafayette area?
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How can this technology help with the business goals of the winery?
Background
My Wine Certification
During my undergraduate degree, I studied Business Hospitality Management with a focus in Food and Beverage. I trained with professional chefs, worked with wine sales reps, and eventually obtained my Introductory Sommelier Course & Examination with the Court of Master Sommeliers.
During my career, I conducted wine trainings and dinners, curated wine lists, and traveled to various wine regions throughout the world.
Needless to say, I love wine.
Located in Lafayette, Indiana, this mom & pop owned winery was established in 2008.
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Kathy is a retired school teacher while Rick previously worked in finance. Together they decided to explore Rick’s passion resulting in opening this winery
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Wildcat Creek Winery sources grape juice from various regions (IN, WI, NY) to blend thus creating wine. They do not grow their own grapes.
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The winery creates award winning wine… Even the first year they were open!
AR in Wine
While I initially started researching this technology due to my own curiosity, I quickly learned the benefits of adding AR to marketing tactics. By implementing AR, brand 19 Crimes
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“as of 2017 they've shipped over one million cases and the brands grew 60% in volume sales and 70% in value ... from 2017 to 2019, the volume of cases sold increased by about 40%” (Forbes, 2021)
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Augmented reality can be found in various areas of the wine industry.
Methods
Academic Literature Research
Competitive Analysis (Wine Label AR Analysis)
Contextual Interviews with winery guests
Contextual Interviews with winery employees
Observations at Winery
Observations at Wine Store (Total Wine & More)
Semi-Structured Interviews - Wine Owner
Semi-Structured Interview - Tourism Board Member
Storyboarding of Wine Stories
Consumer Journey Map
Winery Diagraming
Personas
Adobe Aero AR Prototyping
Semi-Structured Evaluation Interview
Current Applications of AR in Wine / Liquor
19 Crimes
One of the most notable applications AR in wine. When using the app Living Labels, users hold their phone up to the wine bottle, scan the label, and the men tell their stories.
Jack Daniels
When using Jack Daniel's AR App, users can tour the property or learn Jack's story. Watch Video Example Here
Embrazzen
Owned by the same label as 19 Crimes, emBrazzen which celebrates women’s contributions throughout history.
AR Labels Analysis
The purpose of this table is to explore the pros and cons of the wine labels, in these various categories. This analysis gives an easier-to-read analysis of best practices.
“By the use of AR technology in wine products, winemakers report increased profits and sales while consumers who are increasingly using their mobile phones can get access to the information they need
in the way they want…”
Observations & Realizations
After conducting an analysis of seeing how other companies are utilizing AR technology to increase sales, I decided to conduct observations at Total Wine & More as well as multiple trips to the winery. Through these observations, I noticed during wine shopping, guests were not utilizing their phones or the AR technology available. However, at the winery, there seemed to be multiple areas of opportunity during the wine tasting process where AR could be implemented but not take away from the experience. This led me to create a User Journey Map.
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Interview Insights
Once I decided to focus on implementing AR at the winery. I conducted multiple semi-structured interviews with the winery owner to gain a better understanding of the winery clients as well as the stories associated with the wines.
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Through these interviews, I learned that creating an AR experience with the wine label was not an option. Therefore, this allowed me to explore the property to see where AR could be added without taking away from the experience. As shown by the diagram below, the only area to taste wine is in the tasting room. As I learned through contextual inquiries, most guests are going to the winery for the experience and interactions. Therefore, it is important to not take away from this experience and enhance it elsewhere.
This is an image of outside the winery
This is a drawing of the winery tasting room layout
Wine Stories
Through the interviews, I learned of three wines which already have historical stories which inspired the naming of the wine. These wines are: Prophets Rock Red, Peter Mill's White, and Aunt Minnie's Cherry Tree.
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Two of the wines are inspired by the history of Lafayette whereas the cherry wine is a personal story to the winery owner.​
Storyboard
While it was insightful to learn the different stories associated with various wines, I decided due to time constraints and other factors, to focus on one wine and story - Aunt Minnie's Cherry Wine.
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This story was personal and nostalgic to Kathy. Therefore, I sketched a storyboard of what the experience would be. While the drawings are simple, it does convey the story.
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Prototyping in Adobe Aero
Below is my proposed idea for AR at the winery. It is a two step process of scanning the image on your phone followed by the story being told by Kathy.
Step 1
Scan this image via a pop-up tent on the table
Step 2
Image and story pop up on phone via AR
Proposed Wine Tasting Experience & User Persona
Here is a persona of a proposed user and her experience at the winery. The persona was created by utilizing observations at the winery, as well as discussing consumer details with the winery owner. The storyboard follows the journey of this user and how she navigates her experience at the winery.
Evaluation by Winery Owner
I evaluated this idea two different ways. One was with the winery owner in which I showed her this prototype followed by a discussion evaluating the idea and concepts through a semi-structured interview.
Overall, Kathy is excited about this idea to display the winery through a unique platform. While she believes AR can show the charm associated with Aunt Minnie’s story, this is the only story she would want to use because she believes the others take away from the winery’s charm. So, we explored other opportunities to use AR such as adding it to various touch points around the property to show what the winemaking process entails.
Evaluation by Community Member
I then talked with members of the community to get their feedback. However, I did not show the AR as I did not want to focus on the prototype but rather the idea. This was conducted in a semi-structured interview.
While the winery is excited to implement augmented reality, the response from community members was less enthusiastic. Rather than showing the prototype to the members, I conducted semi-structured interviews to evaluate the idea. My goal was to focus on the idea rather than the technology as I felt if I showed the prototype, this could hinder the evaluation. This included questions such as, “How do you believe implementing AR technology at a local business could impact the great community?” and “Would you be inclined to engage more with this business due to the addition of this technology?”
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One community members summed it up well:
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“I feel as though it would be good for self-guided tours but I’m not sure how it would increase community involvement if people weren’t aware of the business in the first place… There would have to be another level of marketing to the community in order to really get them involved and see the benefit”
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Without another layer of marketing or direct outreach to the community, this member discussed how it would not directly raise awareness if the business is not being proliferated around town already
Final Thoughts
Limitations
As this study focused on community involvement as well as the winery, one of the biggest limitations is the relationship between the tourism board and the winery itself. There are areas of missed opportunity to engage with the community, such as participating at farmer’s markets or allowing bus tours at the property, which hinder the exposure of the winery to the people who are around to support the small businesses - locals. While the winery showcases other aspects of community involvement, as shown through displays of local artists and select partnerships, there are still areas of improvement which could eventually make this successful.
Another limitation includes my lack of knowledge of the considerations to implement AR as well as any costs associated. For a business to evaluate if this could be a good investment they should conduct a cost benefit analysis. As this would be the first of its kind in this Lafayette community, the business needs to be willing to take a great risk for potentially great reward.
Next Steps
This research project has huge potential at the winery. After talking with Kathy there is another area of opportunity to implement AR as part of a tour around the winery. On busy days at the winery, there could be an opportunity for guests to walk around the property and learn more about wine production. This is an opportunity for the winery to showcase their entrepreneurship.
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As I was able to talk to professors at Purdue, the best course of action for implementation is to have undergraduates complete it in their capstone class.