Diageo asked us to make Bulleit the next hot independent whiskey brand, drunk in cool small bars and underground venues with sticky floors.

We needed to elevate Bulleit Whiskey on both sides of the bar, to get the right people drinking it in the right venues. Identifying a positive shift in sentiment towards Americana, and an appetite among our independent target audience for the kind of spirited, provocative conversations they were seeing on shows like ‘Mad Men’ and events like ‘Ted X’, we launched the Bulleit Speak Easy Series.

A celebration of the dialogue and discourse of independent thinkers, the launch saw a collaboration between outspoken whiskey aficionado, chef and owner of Momofuku David Chang, and Andrew Levins, a popular Sydney DJ, party host and owner of ‘The Dip’, a shrine to American diner food.

Some of Sydney’s most influential and independent thinkers came to hear Chang and Levins discuss several topical issues. Levins went on to host the Series at Sydney’s best small bars, rebranded ‘Bulleit Holes’, playing a set then shouting patrons a Bulleit and having an old-fashioned chat.

40 pieces of editorial coverage were achieved with a reach of over 12 million, both on major online news sites and in the niche publications read by the most difficult to reach of our target audience. The launch campaign went on to make Bulleit the fastest growing whiskey trademark in Australia.

We partnered outspoken chef and whiskey aficionado David Chang, of Momofuku, with DJ and party host Andrew Levins, who also runs a shrine to American diner food in Sydney.

Selected bartenders from some of Australia’s hottest small bars were given ‘insider’ access to Chang’s bespoke creation, an evolution of the Pickleback, at a ‘Pickling Academy’ held prior to the launch.

The launch event, held in Sydney’s progressive Surry Hills neighbourhood, saw Chang and Levins discuss topical issues in front of food and drink media, music press, influential bloggers and opinionated editors of major online news sources, all of whom spoke directly to our hard to reach target audience.

Following the launch, Levins hosted the Bulleit Speak Easy Series throughout November, playing a DJ set then making his way around the bar, shouting patrons a Bulleit and shooting the breeze with them for a while, fueling the spirit of good conversation.

We achieved our objective of making Bulleit the next hot independent whiskey brand, by leveraging cultural trends relevant to our target audience of niche publications and hard-to-reach hipsters.

Having David Chang create a bepoke Bulleit drink and hosting a series of consumer-facing events meant the campaign had longevity beyond a launch event in the social pages.

In all, 40 pieces of quality editorial coverage were achieved with a reach of over 12 million, both on major online news sites like The Sydney Morning Herald, and in the niche publications read by the most difficult to reach of our target audience. All coverage was positive in sentiment, and all included a campaign image. 95% of coverage included key campaign messaging.

In the quarter the campaign rolled out, Bulleit was the fastest growing American whiskey trademark, and enjoyed 165% growth versus the year prior.