A real-life wine burglary has become part of a launch campaign for a Waiheke Island winery in the Australian market.
Saatchi & Saatchi NZ and Digitas NZ have launched ‘This is Destiny’, a new creative platform for Destiny Bay Winery that reflects the fated story of how the boutique wine brand came to be.
From the geological forces that shaped Waiheke Island to the serendipitous moment when a newly arrived family discovered a secluded valley for sale and chose to cultivate grapes there, the winery’s history has been shaped by chance and destiny.
The launch campaign initially targets the Australian market, introducing audiences to Destiny Bay through a series of artistic videos that express the winery’s brand – many featuring imagery created entirely with AI by Saatchi & Saatchi Studios.
An inspiring and endearing journey
Steve Cochran, CCO at Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, says, “Owners Mike, Ann, and Sean Spratt have an infectious enthusiasm for their land and the remarkable product it produces. Between them there’s almost a disbelief at the journey they’ve had and how they’ve ended up doing what they do and where they do it. It’s both inspiring and endearing.
“It’s that same sense of wonder – equal parts chance, dedication, and destiny – that inspired Saatchi & Saatchi to shape ‘This is Destiny’. Their story didn’t just inform the work; it became its emotional core, guiding the tone, narrative, and visual expression that brings the Destiny Bay journey to life.”
One campaign video is based on a real-life 2022 wine heist at a premium New Zealand retailer, where burglars carefully selected 56 exclusive international vintages – yet only one bottle from New Zealand made the cut: Destiny Bay Magna Praemia 2015.
Other executions take an equally bold approach, including work that leans unapologetically into the brand’s premium price point with lines such as, “If you wouldn’t buy a $1000 bottle of wine, keep scrolling.”

Acclaimed cabernet
Mike Spratt, owner at Destiny Bay says, “We humbly know we make one of the most remarkable and distinctive cabernet blend wines anywhere. The fact that we can do so in such a beautiful place here in the Southern Hemisphere is still surreal to us. We just want to share that with more of the world, no less.”
The campaign drives customers to the winery’s website, redeveloped by Digitas NZ into a global e-commerce website – and enabling the winery to sell its acclaimed cabernet blends directly to customers around the world for the first time.
Chris Brunner, content director at Digitas NZ, says: “With such a premium product, we wanted to go further than a pure retail site. We drew on the essence of the Destiny Bay brand and its fusion of people, place and product to create not just a sale, but a story.”
Atomic 212°, a Publicis Groupe media agency based in Australia, is leading the performance monitoring and optimisation of the targeted online, social and SEM campaigns.
Credits
Saatchi & Saatchi NZ
Saatchi & Saatchi Chief Creative Officer – Steve Cochran
Head of Growth and Operations – Sarah Ansley-Jones
Executive Strategy Director – Tim Cullinane
Senior Business Director – Kimesha Gopal
Business Executive – Mackenzie Cooper
Design Director – Shiv Narandas
Content Creator – Nelson Rayner
Digitas NZ
General Manager – Nick Peat
Head of Strategy – Meredyth Dale-Gandar
Content Director – Chris Brunner
Senior Digital Producer – Marianne Deady
Head of Delivery – Louise Ruegg
Atomic 212°
Group Account Director – Devon Roberts
Performance Director – Natalie Cheung
Performance Manager – Vishwesh Shetty
Senior Planning & Trading Executive – Michael Storey
Herd MSL NZ
General Manager – Kat Day
Account Director – Sinelle Fernandez
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