KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL

A Tall Order Filled

Kentucky Bourbon Trail logo. Digital Marketing, Website Design, Branding, Graphic Design, Logo Design, Advertising, and Marketing Agency services in Danville, Kentucky.

Kentucky is known worldwide for horses, basketball, and bourbon. The latter of which represents a $9 Billion industry that accounts for more than 23,000 jobs in and around the state. To say that working with representatives to re-design the Kentucky Bourbon Trail website was a tall order would be an understatement. Still, the official website circa 2017 was in desperate need of a refresh.

A big job calls for big-time collaboration, so we were happy to partner on this project with Onefold and Balance Creative. While we were responsible for developing the final website, they worked tirelessly to arrange communications, research options, build mood boards, coordinate assets, create and map content, and work with the clients to drive creative direction.

THE CHALLENGE

Redesign the website for an iconic Kentucky experience with compelling visuals and an improved user experience.

Archived Kentucky Bourbon Trail website.

A Lack Of Focus

The existing Kentucky Bourbon Trail website did a lot of things at once. In fact, it probably tried to serve too many audiences in too many ways to its detriment. Distilleries know that image is everything, so the trail participants had already built elevated their online experiences for their customers. It was time for the trail itself to join in.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail website screenshot. Digital Marketing, Website Design, Branding, Graphic Design, Logo Design, Advertising, and Marketing Agency services in Danville, Kentucky.

First Things First

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail and its attached team serve many purposes, but the trail primarily exists for tourism. This redesign was an opportunity to reduce clutter and focus on serving potential visitors more effectively. This meant that imagery, navigation, and messaging would be built for them first.

THE SOLUTION

Combine striking imagery and effective messaging with efficient navigation to encourage potential visitors to tour the Trail.

THE RESULTS

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail has seen record numbers of visitors in the last 5 years, including a record 2.1 million in 2022, which bested the 2019 record of 1.7 million. While many factors contributed to this success, the redesigned website also played a role.

Contributors on this project include Molly Green (Onefold), David Caldwell (Balance Creative), Adam Johnson (KDA/KBT), Mandy Kay Ryan (KDA/KBT), and Ali Edelstein (KDA/KBT).