The Gift of a Wish

Martell’s modern twist to a cultural gifting occasion.

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, we created a limited edition Martell Cordon Bleu Cognac bottle inspired by the Chinese tradition of well-wishing and gift-giving. Each bottle featured a unique dynamic QR code, allowing users to record a video message that could be watched by anyone who scanned the code next.

Cognac is to China what Champagne is to the West.
Cognac has a strong celebratory association among Chinese consumers, making it more similar to Champagne than Whisky. And when it comes to Chinese New Year, Cognac bottles are a hugely popular gift for both business and celebration.
In a gift category that's oversaturated during the holidays and dominated by Hennessy X.O.'s flashy Lunar New Year edition bottles, Martell needed to stand out as the brand of choice for younger, more experience-driven Chinese drinkers.
We were inspired by a centuries-old tradition that began in Hong Kong.
During Chinese New Year, villagers would travel to the Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees, two ancient banyan trees near the Tin Hau Temple, to write their New Year wish on a red paper, tying it to a mandarin, and tossing it into the foliage.
Today, people are no longer allowed to throw wishes into the Lam Tsuen trees, but visitors still stop by the village every year to tie their wishes to imitation trees near the originals.
We created a limited edition bottle on which gifters could attach their good wishes for the New Year.
By scanning the unique QR code on each bottle, users were directed to a private URL where they could record a short video message to their friends and loved ones.
Once their good wishes were recorded, the gift receiver could then scan the same QR code and be automatically directed to the video.

Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree

Limited edition bottle design

Our bottle’s design referenced traditional Chinese papercut art and combined it with the bold and imaginative French spirit that defines Martell as a brand. We collaborated with artist Sabrina Transiskus to design and create a physical papercut sculpture inspired by the Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees.