Diageo, the world’s biggest premium beverage company, wanted to shake the whisky market in Brazil and rejuvenate the category in a punctual action from May to June 2012. Throughout the country, 2,500 bars would be part of the action.

To play with the category’s imaginary, 15 Twitter users were engaged to actions on Twitter and Facebook. They posted phrases about whisky in line with their usual tone, such as '#Whiskyis the bacon of alcoholic beverages,' posted by PC Siqueira – a hardcore bacon fan. The phrases became trending topics in Brazil.

Soon after this virtual movement, two other characters reinforced the chorus. Fashion designer Alexandre Herchcovitch showcased a collection of T-shirts with #Whiskyis prints at Fashion Rio, an important fashion event. Over 400 opinion makers were delivered their T-shirt at home and started walking around with the phrases.

The sommelière Alexandra Corvo, until then known for her appreciation of wine, started promoting whisky classes in Sao Paulo, which generated great interest from the media and the public.

R$ 2 million in spontaneous media were achieved in the period. Veja, the weekly magazine with largest circulation in Brazil, published a three-page article titled: Aged got young.

In April, negotiations with stakeholders were started. One of the challenges found was to join the image of celebrities with alcoholic beverage. The company’s responsibility of targeting the message to the adult audience only was a priority when casting the stakeholders.

All agents came into place in the right moment. The intention was to make the actions configure a trend, not a promotion.

A different tactic was used when disclosing to the press: the contact with journalists was decentralized, made by different Public Relations professionals, in order to also create among the journalists the impression of movement in the category.

On Twitter, a schedule of posts was also created differently. On the first tweets, all influencers posted at the same time, trying to get attention from the audiences. After #Whiskyis became known, the times of the posts varied.

The action was successful and became a global benchmark for Diageo. There was an increase of 2 points of whisky penetration after the campaign. In two months, 140 articles were published in the press nationwide, over R$ 2 million in spontaneous media, 100% more than the KPI established by the client.

#Whiskyis was a trending topic on Twitter. Sommèliere Alexandra Corvo became a spokeswoman to the category and continued answering the media’s demands after the action period. All classes she promoted on her school sold out.

Restaurateurs, journalists, bartenders and bloggers in Brazil adopted the trend around whisky and, even after the punctual action, continued to promote this beverage on cocktails.