The assignment was awarded to the team without a pitch following a strategic brand presentation. According to the client, Grey demonstrated "fresh and simple yet sharp and to-the-point" strategy building and creative excellence through its past work.

"This account win reflects Grey's expertise in local marketing and consumer understanding, with international experience in brand marketing," said Danny Mok, CEO of Grey Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The agency will be responsible for all ChangYu's above-the-line communications. It will be tasked with changing the brand's image from old-fashioned and corporate by adding new marketing values to all six of its wine products.

Bernard Wong, general manager at Grey Shanghai said: "This is our first wine client. The ChangYu wine brand has a century old history in China and its annual sales reached US$ 890 million in 2008.  Although it has formed partnerships with international wineries, its brand image is lagging behind its sales development."

Like many large state-owned enterprises, the client is still keen to use CCTV to achieve "conservative" but popular mass media marketing. Alcohol companies increased their bidding at last year's CCTV air time auction by 170 per cent. The Grey team will initially focus on the brand's corporate image campaign due to start in March.

ChangYu Pioneer Wine is from Yantai, a northeast Shangdong province in China, which sits on a latitude similar to Bordeaux in France.  It is one of the largest wine companies in China and has more than 100 years of history. Its product portfolio spans across red wine, brandy, champagne, ice wine and Chinese healthcare wine. It wine cellar in Yantai, completed in 1905, is the largest in the Far East.