Brand Strategy · Website Design & Development · Social Media Campaigns · Advertising · Graphic Design
Great Pinery Heritage Waterway
Central Wisconsin's best-kept outdoor secret finally has a brand worth talking about.
Nonprofit · Heritage Tourism · Outdoor Recreation · Central Wisconsin
The Situation
The Great Pinery Heritage Waterway began as more than just a trail concept. It was a vision for turning Central and Northcentral Wisconsin’s rivers into a stronger recreational and tourism asset — one that could attract paddlers, elevate surrounding communities, and help more people discover what makes this region special. With 108 miles of navigable water trail, the opportunity was already there. What was needed was a clear public-facing brand story, a compelling planning experience, and a stronger way to connect the river itself with the restaurants, communities, wildlife, history, and outdoor experiences surrounding it.
This project was never just about putting a trail on a map. It was about unlocking a destination. The challenge was to take a broad regional amenity and shape it into something paddlers could understand, navigate, and get excited about — while also helping local stakeholders see the waterway as an economic and tourism driver for the region.
What we Built
Brand Strategy / Brand Blueprint
We developed a full Brand Blueprint for the Great Pinery Heritage Waterway. That included the same four foundational deliverables we build for our strategy projects: complete brand messaging, buyer persona development, a communications playbook defining voice, tone, style, and personality, and a high-level execution and marketing strategy. Because this was a regional tourism initiative with many moving parts, we also worked with a wide range of stakeholders to gather input and shape messaging that could reflect both the trail experience and the surrounding communities it supports.
Print and Promotional Materials
We created launch materials and supporting promotional pieces to help introduce the trail to the public. One especially important design deliverable was the end-to-end trail guide — a printed planning resource that brought together trail segments, safety information, and trip-planning details into one cohesive piece visitors could actually use.
Launch Marketing
We supported the launch with both organic and paid social media efforts. With a relatively small budget, the campaign helped build awareness and grow the Facebook following quickly, giving the trail an early audience and helping establish momentum around the launch.
Custom Map Design
One of the major pieces of this project was designing a custom visual mapping system for the different trail segments. Rather than relying on generic or fragmented trail visuals, we created cohesive, stylized maps with custom icons and a unified look and feel. These maps helped make the trail more usable, more recognizable, and more inviting for visitors planning their experience.
Website Design and Development
We designed and developed the website as a large-scale planning and promotional tool for the waterway. The current site shows the depth of that work: it helps paddlers explore trails and landings, ADA launches, outfitters, safety information, flow rates, history, wildlife, trip-planning resources, places to stay, and local attractions along the route. Just as importantly, it connects the river to the communities around it — helping position the trail not just as a paddle, but as a broader regional experience worth traveling for. Our role was not to create a new visual identity system, but to build out this expansive digital experience and the supporting design assets around it.
Grant Support
In partnership with Visit Wausau, we helped pursue Wisconsin Department of Tourism funding to support the promotion of the Great Pinery Heritage Waterway. Public coverage confirms that 712 Creative and the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors Bureau received a $28,775 Joint Effort Marketing grant to promote the trail.
The Shift
The Great Pinery Heritage Waterway evolved from a promising regional recreation concept into a much more complete destination experience. Instead of simply existing as a collection of river segments, access points, and community assets, it now has messaging, planning tools, maps, promotional materials, and a website that help people understand how to explore it and why it matters. The current site reflects that transformation by organizing the trail into a much more usable experience for paddlers while also highlighting history, safety, wildlife, and nearby destinations.
The project also became part of something bigger. Public sources show that the waterway later secured a National Recreation Trail designation for part of the route, building on its growing visibility as a serious regional outdoor asset. That makes the case study even stronger: this was not just about marketing a trail, but about helping package and promote a destination-level experience with real tourism significance.
