Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau

Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACCVB) promotes visitor and business travel in Athens County, Ohio. Home to Ohio University, Athens County also has world-class art centers, eclectic shopping, outdoor recreation and an extremely active local food and dining scene. Among this local food and drink scene also is a thriving craft brewery community.

To raise further awareness about the craft breweries, promote outdoor recreation and generate more tourism, Inspire PR Group (Inspire) partnered with ACCVB to create a brochure for the new 21-mile biking and brewery trail called, Brewed on the Bikeway. Working on the project in April and May 2017 ACCVB specifically challenged Inspire to:

• Create a brand, including a logo, font, color and other design elements, for the new biking and brewery trail called, Brewed on the Bikeway. The brand needed to be visually appealing, modern and accurately represent the personality and vibe of Athens County.
• Use the existing Hockhocking Adena Bikeway to create the trail and ensure the map for the trail is available in print, online and PDF formats.
• Create a brochure that can easily be displayed and transported for tourists and trail participants, as well as available online.
• Ensure all the breweries on the trail are fairly depicted in the brochure and map, as not to show favoritism for any businesses;
• Identify other points of interest that trail participants may want to explore as they ride on the trail.
• Create a Brewed on the Bikeway sticker for participants that will raise further awareness about the trail and promote tourism in the region.

Inspire provided a draft of the map, as well as design and content ideas for the brochure to ACCVB. Other suggestions included using attention-grabbing photos, putting breweries in alphabetical order on the brochure, having brief summaries of the breweries and only highlighting tourist attractions close to the trail. Inspire found that visitors are more likely to visit side attractions in close proximity to the path they are already taking. Based on the research conducted, Inspire also recommended a standard three panel 8x11 brochure with a gate fold.

ACCVB accepted all Inspire’s content suggestions and design recommendations and Inspire designed the brochure. Using Google Maps and screenshots of the region, Inspire designed a concise map that was easy to understand. Inspire associates who attended Ohio University also provided useful information and continually reviewed the map for accuracy. Throughout the entire process, Inspire worked with the local breweries and ACCVB. Using ACCVB’s extensive photo library, Inspire integrated large, colorful and compelling photos into the piece to give readers a glimpse into the sights, sounds and tastes of the trail. Inspire also used key messages to draft concise and useful information about the business along the trail. Additionally, Inspire integrated interesting facts and data into the brochure, make it engaging, memorable and useful for readers.