Pop the cork: Moët Hennessy enters a new era of product photography

Oct 30, 2024

Pop the cork: Moët Hennessy enters a new era of product photography

Are traditional photoshoots history? See how Moët Hennessy’s nine wine houses created 100+ visuals in mere weeks with one Virtual Photo Studio.

For years, Moët Hennessy's wine division was at the mercy of traditional photoshoots — a process that notoriously struggles to keep pace with market opportunities. But when they changed their approach to visual content production, the impact was immediate: content creation sped up by 3X, nine wine houses simplified their workflow, and they created over 100 pieces of content in just weeks.

But the real story? How they managed to scale production while maintaining the impeccable standards of their brand.

Watch the video below, or scroll to read their story.


The old way: bound by studio schedules

Imagine coordinating photoshoots across nine wine houses — each with their own product launches, seasonal campaigns, and market-specific needs. Pre-production alone could take weeks: booking international crews, shipping products across continents, and coordinating times that worked across multiple time zones. And that’s just the beginning.

Every shoot meant weeks of planning, followed by days of meticulous setup and shooting, then more weeks of post-production. Quality control meant multiple rounds of reviews and adjustments. The costs added up quickly: studio time, crew fees, shipping, travel expenses — not to mention the opportunity cost of delayed launches and excess time spent by employees.

When one market finally wrapped up their content, another would need something similar, but with slight variations. Maybe Italy needed a different backdrop, or Spain wanted seasonal elements for their campaign. Back to the studio they'd go. A never-ending game of high-stakes scheduling Tetris.

"We had to spend time working with a dedicated team, and some post-production... every time we release new bottles to the market."
– Tatiana Lupart, Engagement Director @Moët Hennessy Wine Estates

The volume of content needed kept growing, and the process needed to keep up. Precious market time would slip away before the shots were ready. And maintaining consistent brand standards across all these shoots? That was another challenge entirely. For a luxury brand operating across the globe, being held back by production bottlenecks simply wasn't an option.


The new way: creativity without constraints

Moët Hennessy picked Omi to 3D model their wine collections. Each bottle got its ‘digital twin’, which captured every detail and optical property — from the way light refracts through glass to how shadows fall on different surfaces. Each model was then available in their Library of assets, ready to be drag-and-dropped into virtual photo shoots at a moment’s notice.


With this foundation in place, they could focus on what matters most: the details.

After all, the subtleties make all the difference in product photography — whether it’s the light catching a bottle or shadows falling just right. Using Omi’s Virtual Photo Studio, they could control these details with precision.

And the best part? They could do it without crossing oceans for photoshoots or being shackled to the current season. If they needed a winter scene for their Christmas campaign or a sun-soaked terrace for their summer catalog, every setting (and every season) was just a click away in the Virtual Studio. No more coordinating international crews or waiting for perfect weather — just consistent, beautiful shots whenever they needed them.

But the real power lay in scale. Markets could now produce hundreds of on-brand visuals without ever compromising quality. What used to require multiple shoots, locations, and teams now lived in one place, ready to be adapted for any channel, team, or campaign.

"No technical skill is really needed"
– Clémentine Chaix, Project Manager @ Moët Hennessy Wine Estates


Brand scenes: approved and secured

"We aim to maintain control over the assets distributed as we allow our Maisons and markets to create photos in a secured and approved environment."
– Tatiana Lupart, Engagement Director @Moët Hennessy Wine Estates

Moët Hennessy knew exactly what they wanted, from the way the light should hit the glasses to the specific food/wine pairings each scene should allow for (e.g. only white wine with oysters). They even asked Omi to 3D-model a specific chair for their scenes because it perfectly captured their aesthetic (fun fact: we bought the chair and it still lives in our office!)

Thus, armed with a comprehensive creative brief, Omi’s 3D artists got to work creating four virtual worlds:

  • A Mediterranean veranda bathed in golden light

  • The green hills of southern France

  • An earthy minimalist dining room

  • A dreamy beach backdrop

Now, each Maison had pre-approved settings for their (virtual) photo shoots. Only products and accessories were swappable in the scenes, while light settings, objects, camera angles, and more were fixed. This meant that the approved and carefully curated scene elements would remain every single time, with no chance of compromise. Each of the nine Maisons was therefore able to produce and reproduce content at will — for social, for eCommerce, for website, and more — without the need for further approval. In other words, brand integrity without bureaucracy.


Beyond bottles: creating a custom Library of accessories

Here's where Moët Hennessy took things one step further with Omi.

They didn't stop at modeling their bottles — they did it with scene accessories too. A freshly picked lemon, a glistening oyster, a rustic ceramic vase, and countless other trinkets. Essentially, they built a branded collection of accessories available at a moment’s notice right in the Virtual Studio.

These accessories are drag-and-droppable into any scene. Can you believe it?


Their collection of virtual products and accessories let teams across all markets make content with fewer hoops to jump through. Seasonal campaign in Europe? eCommerce assets for Asia? Social media content for France? Done, done, and voilà. Just a couple of clicks away. Cheers to creative freedom!


Results

"We now work around three times faster, saving us a lot in annual shooting costs every time we release new bottles to the market."
– Clémence Bessieres, Social Media & Content Assistant @ Moët Hennessy Wine Estates

Here's what happened within weeks of switching to Omi:


Speed & scale

  • Content creation sped up by 3X

  • 100+ pieces of approved content produced in weeks

  • Local teams could create content independently

  • Drastic reduction in annual shooting costs


Market impact

  • Launch campaigns ready before products hit the shelves

  • Nine houses deployed simultaneously

  • Faster response to market opportunities


Brand control

  • Every market maintained premium standards

  • Easier approval and standardization process of marketing assets

  • Consistent visuals across all touchpoints, from eCommerce to social media

  • Global campaigns localized effortlessly


The future of luxury visual content

"The partnership has truly changed our ways of working in terms of content creation, because now, we can have a much more sustainable and strategic vision to cover different times of the year."
– Clémentine Chaix, Project Manager @ Moët Hennessy Wine Estates

Time-to-market matters more than ever in luxury wine. But so does brand integrity. Moët Hennessy proved you don't have to choose between speed and quality — you just need the right tools.

Their switch to Omi wasn’t just a shortcut to more content in less time. It was about giving global teams the power to move at the speed of opportunity while keeping their premium heritage intact. Nine houses, multiple markets, countless campaigns — all flowing through one platform.


Ready to take the first step? Create a free account to explore a sandbox version of the Virtual Photo Studio. If you're ready to add your own products to the Studio, book a demo with our team.