Chateau Ste. Michelle Sets the Scene for Summer with Aluminum Wine Line

Earlier this summer, Chateau Ste. Michelle (Washington’s founding winery) introduced a new bottled wine line – it’s first foray into canned beverages, the brand rolled out four new wines in smaller serve aluminium bottles across Washington, Oregon, New York, New Jersey and Texas.

Initially introduced through a small social push, the brand is now launching an integrated campaign - ‘Chateau Wherever You Go’ -  with the help of its lead agency, Team One, the fully integrated media, digital, and communications agency for premium brands.

Like many new campaigns that have been developed during Covid-19, this new work nods to the current restrictions on socialising and gathering outdoors, and daydreams about summer travel - setting a scene that begs of a perfect summer setting, and ultimately reveals an at-home experience taking place. ‘Sandbox’, ‘Glamping’, and ‘French Riviera’ - the three key 15 second digital spots – lean heavily on the new design of the bottles, which are colourful and whimsical, and feature a sketch of the winery’s iconic Chateau in the shadow of Washington’s Mount Rainier. The spots were created using animated line art matching the fresh product design. 

“We wanted to create innovative, modern packaging to appeal to consumers looking for convenience and smaller serving options, while still delivering high-quality wines,” explains Francis Perrin, Ste Michelle Wine Estates CMO. “Launching a new product has its challenges in the Covid landscape. Working with Team One, we were able to concept and produce a campaign that is relevant to consumers and encourages retailers to bring the new product to their shelves.” 

“With so much somber advertising coming out during the pandemic, we wanted to create a campaign that was more lighthearted and encouraging. Using an animation style inspired by the art on the bottles, we created a series of quick spots, each opening on a scene that isn’t quite as idyllic as it first appears to be. Fortunately, with these new aluminium wine bottles, you can Chateau Wherever You Go,” said Jason Stinsmuehlen, executive creative director at Team One.

The campaign will run across Connected TV and digital, and includes various social elements. The brand started to tease the campaign across its social channels in July, see here. This is the first work to result from the brand’s partnership with Team One since its lead agency appointment in February 2020.