McWilliam’s Wines is bringing its familiar name back to the train stations in an integrated campaign to promote its newly refreshed premium fortified collection.
McWilliam’s Wines, one of Australia’s most recognised winemaking names, was, at one stage, prominently featured in the main terminal of Sydney Central Station’s Grand Concourse with its own neon-lit advertisement. This new campaign, which runs for 12 weeks from July, brings the brand back to the train stations with McWilliam’s ‘It’s About Time’ creative, highlighting more than a century of care and craftsmanship behind the winemaker’s distinguished fortified collection.
In addition to the multiple train station billboard placements across Sydney’s Central, Wynyard, Town Hall and Martin Place stations, McWilliam’s will run advertisements across TV, regional radio and wine-focussed consumer and trade media.
“These fortified wines are sensational, and it’s so exciting to see McWilliam’s back sharing the story of its amazing wines to Sydney train travellers, albeit with a little less neon,” McWilliam’s Wines brand manager Carrah Lymer said.
“Fortified wines have played an important role in the history of Australian wine, and for decades, McWilliam’s winemaking team have looked after incredibly rare barrel material to produce these limited releases under the Hanwood Estate range. This is something we wanted to convey in the ad while bringing fortified wines into a similar space as premium wine or whiskey.”
This is McWilliam’s first major campaign for its premium fortified collection since the brand underwent an entire refresh and launched its age-specific Hanwood Estate range. In addition to a suite of aged fortified releases across its Apera, Tawny, Muscat and Ruby wines, the packaging refresh features a proprietary bottle embossed with the classic McWilliam’s logo and elegant rich black design features. The outer packaging becomes more ornate as the wines increase in age, with distinct gift boxes for the Grand, Rare and Very Rare releases.
McWilliam’s Wines was acquired by the Calabria Family Wine Group in 2021, with the entire fortified campaign managed in-house. The campaign will run through September to promote McWilliam’s fortified wines during the Father’s Day period.
