Brand Storytelling | Brand Strategy | Immersive AR/VR Events
The Flight of Fini
THE SITUATION
For more than six centuries, the Bonmartini-Fini family has been making wine in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Northern Italy since 1497. Even so, awareness of Barone Fini wines was not competitive.
The Challenge
What is the most impressionable way to create an experience that enhances brand recognition? This was especially important in the context of the heavily-saturated wine market and the need for boosted unaided awareness in both off-premise shelves and on-premise menus.
Through custom Mindset Modeling, we identified a core subset of target consumers who crave new opportunities and believe that life is a collection of well-crafted experiences. Neuroscience also revealed that a multi-sensory tasting experience combining taste, smell, sight, and touch forges an authentic and lasting emotional connection with the brand. To deepen their appreciation of the wine, our identified audience also appreciates learning directly from the experts, plus meeting fellow enthusiasts with a shared passion adds to their immersion.
Syndicated research informed us of the importance of travel to wine enthusiasts.
The Inspirational Insight
Engaging consumers with a multi-sensory experience of traveling to the vineyards of Barone Fini will instill an unrivaled passion for the brand.
The Concept
Our concept was inspired by Barone Fini’s newest imagery displayed on their wine labels, hot air balloons flying over the vineyard. We wanted to transport consumers to the authentic vineyards of Northern Italy where the Barone Fini wine is produced. What better way to do so than in a hot air balloon. So doing would establish an extremely indelible link to the brand, reinforcing the label imagery and invoking the emotion and excitement of the unique experience.
Inspira designed and produced a larger-than-life custom inflatable attraction, featuring a hot air balloon and gondola as the centerpiece of the activation. This bold visual representation of the brand’s label instantly captivated consumers and encouraged them to participate.
Our Rome-based production team shot drone footage of the vineyard. Then we produced a fully immersive 360-degree experience Virtual Reality (VR) trip to the vineyard in Italy that was viewed by consumers wearing an Oculus VR headset once they stepped into the hot air balloon gondola. Narration and brand education in the VR film was provided by Giovanni Bonmartini, a direct descendant of the founding Bonmartini-Fini family.
We showcased the experience at hot air balloon festivals across the country. Inspira Brand Ambassadors brought the big idea to life by encouraging patrons to post a photo of themselves on social media, while sitting on the Barone-Fini branded vespa “over-looking” the Italian Alps imagery in the background. After educating consumers on Barone-Fini’s wine with a complimentary sample tasting, consumers were seamlessly driven from sample to sale at the “Flight of Fini” wine concession adjacent to the activation.
2023 Hermes Creative Awards Platinum Winner: Live or Virtual Event & Virtual, Augmented or Mixed Reality
2023 Chief Marketer Pro Award: Best Sampling or Trial Recruitment
