14 Hands Winery says Find Your Wild

Unbound by rules or convention, this is the ethos behind 14 Hands Winery, Washington state’s second largest winery. 

A brand inspired by the untamed spirit of the wild horses that once freely roamed eastern Washington. The winery reflected on those very roots to inspire its biggest marketing effort ever: a complete relaunch of its iconic brand with a new strategic direction and fresh campaign, executed with the help of agency of record, Team One.

Find Your Wild is the new brand platform that speaks to the 14 Hands brand spirit, the unconventional approach to winemaking, and the target consumers who are spontaneous participants in life. Find Your Wild celebrates how we all have a bold side. Something that exists in parallel to our “buttoned-up side” that reminds us to play and what it means to be truly alive. This idea comes to life in this new campaign that introduces 14 Hands’ full brand refresh, the bold new look and feel of both the bottles and cans, and stands out amongst a clutter of cliche wine advertising.

Three video spots sit at the centre of the campaign. In these spots, Director Steve Ayson of production company MJZ captured heightened, artistic moments of ordinary people finding their unexpected wild side, all while an omniscient narrator makes a surprising deadpan observation, reminiscent of the voiceovers found on nature shows about animals in the wild. It’s a playful approach to complement the bold new look of the brand, and it reminds us all to go ahead and find our wild side.

The campaign video will run in Spot and Connected TV, supported by impactful out-of-home advertising, targeted social media and influencer partnerships, and national digital advertising. Seattle and Dallas are key markets for the brand and this campaign, with a majority of the OOH placemats going up across Dallas starting this month, including high impact wallscapes in the downtown area, traditional billboards, and bus transit units throughout the city. This campaign will run through the summer, with additional elements launching nationally in the Fall.

“We are thrilled to introduce this new chapter for 14 Hands Winery with all-new packaging, a new digital presence, and the brand’s biggest advertising effort ever,” said Francis Perrin, Chief Marketing Officer for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, the ownership group for 14 Hands Winery. “Our goal was to recapture the spirit of this incredible winery, going back to its iconic roots as a tribute to the untamed spirit of the wild horses that once roamed freely in the Columbia Valley, where we now grow vines and produce our world-class wines,” Perrin continued. “Team One has captured the spirit of 14 Hands in our ‘Find Your Wild’ campaign in a way that is fun, entertaining, unexpected, and will break through with our target consumers.”

“14 Hands Winery is telling a category-defying story. Many wine brands attempt to be understated and refined -- with ‘hints’ of this, and ‘bouquets’ of that.. 14 Hands has made the opposite case,” said Julie Michael CEO, Team One. “It’s a new era in wines, and 14 Hands is celebrating a more adventurous approach to enjoying great wine, unbound by rules and convention.”

Michael added, “As more people get vaccinated, and we emerge from the confinements of COVID, there will be more opportunities for people to get outside and enjoy being together. Our aim is to make it ‘the summer of 14 Hands,’ as people get into a little bit of safe, yet fun, mischief.”

“14 Hands Winery is focused on meeting the needs of consumers’ evolving tastes and behaviors. With 14 Hands high-quality wines available in both bottles and cans, it suits our target consumer’s adventurous spirit, which we bring to life in our “Find Your Wild” campaign,” said Emily Krueger, Group Account Director, Team One. “The team at 14 Hands have a big appetite to do interesting things. This campaign will continue to come into culture in waves – this is wave 1.”