Bringing a wine brand’s story to life through playful AR

Client

Bibendum Wine

Sector

Food and Consumer Goods

Tech

Augmented Reality (AR), Immersive Apps

AR storytelling for Bibendum’s IDENTITY wine

Bibendum, one of the UK’s leading drinks businesses, partnered with Journey’s End to engage a younger audience for their IDENTITY wine brand. We created an augmented reality experience within the PLONK app, turning bottle labels into animated storytelling touchpoints. The interactive experience highlighted themes of nature and sustainability, sparking curiosity and building brand connection with new audiences.

The challenge

Bibendum’s Off Trade division services the UK’s leading multiple retailers, and with Journey’s End – a premium South African wine producer – they set out to develop a communications strategy for IDENTITY, a brand aimed at younger, affluent consumers. Attracting this demographic is a growing challenge in the wine industry, where engagement with younger audiences is key to future growth. Bibendum needed a way to make wine approachable, relevant and fun, while still conveying the authenticity and sustainability credentials of the brand. The challenge was to create a format that balanced education with entertainment – encouraging interaction rather than passive consumption.

The process

We designed an AR experience that used the illustrated labels across the IDENTITY varietals – from Sauvignon Blanc to Shiraz – as the trigger. When viewed through the PLONK app, the label unfolded into a lively animation that shared stories of the wine’s identity, from its ties to South Africa’s protea flower to the trebuchet used to fundraise for the local community. Enhanced with sound and copy, the experience finished with a prompt to explore the producer’s social media channels. By combining playfulness with storytelling, the app forged a meaningful connection between the brand and its target audience.

The outcome

The AR activation provided Bibendum with a fresh, engaging way to bring IDENTITY to life, reinforcing the brand’s values of creativity, sustainability and community. It gave younger drinkers a reason to interact with the bottle beyond the shelf, making wine feel more accessible and enjoyable. The experience opened a dialogue between consumers and the producer, encouraging continued discovery online and on social media.