Sultry Ad for Orange Wine Shakes Off Category’s Stuffy Image

Tactile marketing

Bell, who’s now a creative advisor to the Los Angeles-based company, worked with Nomadica’s creative director Aiden Duffy on the hero ad and its vignettes.

“I really wanted this to be kinetic, to have a sense of movement, play and sensuality,” Bell told Adweek. “The idea of skin contact was a fun way to be quite literal and also symbolic.”

The campaign, shot in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley this spring with a female-heavy crew, features an age, race and gender-diverse cast, handled in a way that “didn’t feel contrived or pandering,” Olszewski said. That mix was a priority for the creatives and founder, who identifies as queer, because “it’s not a Pride month thing for us.” 

A few senior citizens also get the spotlight because Bell wanted to include young and older consumers, even though the promo push is intended mainly for millennials and Gen Z.

“I feel like the older generation gets lost in advertising,” Bell said. “They don’t get invited to the party, and it was important to me to represent a couple that’s at a different time in their lives.”

8,000-year overnight sensation

Also called macerated wine—which has ancient roots in Eastern Europe—orange wine has grown in popularity alongside the natural and organic wine movements.

Bon Appétit recently called it “an easy-to-order, 8,000-year overnight sensation” and “a welcoming deviation from the strict, impenetrable nature of a lot of corners of wine culture,” especially for casual drinkers.

Drizly orders have leaped 167% year over year, with researcher Fact.MR predicting it will be a $67 million global product in the next decade, growing from $40 million in 2022.

Nomadica—which also has rosé, whites, reds and sparkling wines in a product line that features custom-created artwork—sells direct to consumers in 46 states. Brick-and-mortar distribution has grown to 20 states, including Whole Foods, boutique wine shops, music venues, hotels and restaurants.

For its “Skin Contact” campaign, the company is buying out-of-home ads in New York and L.A., with Bell and the on-screen talent sharing videos and other assets on their social channels to amplify the paid social and digital media.