Created by Publicis & Hal Riney, the Artful, Hand-Crafted Television Ads Bring to Life Wine’s Journey From Vine to Bottle for One of Napa Valley’s Most Revered Wine Brands.
December 10, 2007, Napa, CA.
In a bold move for a fairly conservative industry, Beringer Vineyards today announced that it has launched a multi-million dollar TV advertising campaign. The television ads, supported by print advertising and new brand identity, underscore the winery’s commitment to sustaining its tremendous reputation and introducing Beringer, Napa Valley’s oldest continuously operating winery, to today’s generation of wine drinkers. Additionally, the campaign reinforces the momentum of the recent successful launch of Beringer Third Century in the high-growth $10-14 category.
Visually captivating, the origami-like TV ads were created using stop motion animation, a very time consuming process that is often replaced today by faster, computer-generated technologies. The choice of paper as a medium, coupled with the artisan qualities of the music and the filming were all selected carefully for the emotional and sensorial effects they convey. Using paper shaped as roots, leaves and grapes, the spot tells the story of a bud transforming into grapes and then into the wine behind the paper label. A very talented group of artists, under the direction of award-winning director, Olivier Gondry, and renowned paper sculptor, Su Blackwell, brought the concept to fruition.
“Our creative approach relied on the simplicity of paper which when put in the hands of creative artists is brought to life,” commented Roger Camp, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis & Hal Riney. “I am extremely proud of this piece, not only for the sheer dedication, hours and passion that went on behind the scenes, but also because I think the viewer cannot help but feel the beauty and art captured on the screen.”
Beringer’s VP of Marketing, Barry Sheridan, tasked the agency to come-up with a break-through campaign that truly represents an industry first and he is excited to see Beringer’s “How to Get to Napa Valley” positioning be transformed onto the screen (before this new campaign regional radio was the primary advertising vehicle). “We wanted to create an emotional connection with Beringer and something very different from typical wine advertisements. You won’t see very many other luxury wineries of our stature and quality making this kind of investment in the creative and in television.”
The TV advertising campaign began on November 20 and can be seen on several different networks, including A&E, Food Network, Headline News, and PBS as well as on the Times Square Jumbo-tron. The print campaign will launch in mid-December and can be viewed in Food & Wine, Wine Spectator and the New Yorker, among others. Initial reception to the advertising campaign has been extremely positive.
Fast Facts on the Artistic Process:
- 25 seconds of stop motion animation took 70 hours of shooting
- Each vine took 10 hours to create. 250 vines created = 2500 hours
- 40 bunches of grapes each with ~ 20 grapes took 50 hours to create
- Rhine House took 30 hours to complete & tractor took 24 hours to create
