What does a brand famous for pushing boundaries say to celebrate their 200th birthday? Nothing. They let others do the talking. In 2020 Johnnie Walker celebrated their 200th anniversary & opened up their brand & history without boundaries to an award-winning, independent team to tell their story through the voices of others.

A new model, partnership & way of working – made possible through unprecedented access. An independently-owned property that isn’t brand-led or editorially controlled. By starting here we unlocked distribution opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. With a commitment by the brand to co-promote as a truly independent feature. Breaking new ground for the category & beyond.

An independent feature film. About the brand, not by them. Activated through co-promotion. Positioning Johnnie Walker at the heart of culture & driving global talkability.

Johnnie Walker handed over editorial control, as well as access to their brand archive, in order for triple BAFTA award winner & Oscar nominated Anthony Wonke to tell their story through the voices of others. We followed the story across the world, surfacing a narrative of positivity & resilience, exploring how over two centuries, Johnnie Walker navigated floods, flu pandemics & World Wars, while taking a stand on racial & gender inequality.

Told over the course of a feature-length documentary – not a 30s ad – the film earned its way on to editorially-led platforms, not on the back of media spend. The innovative long-form format of the content delivered results & depth of knowledge that inspired consumers, by showing up across multiple channels in a way that traditional brand media couldn’t.

The Target Audience was global mainstream consumers who are interested in documentaries. We set out to engage with global consumers with a narrative-led documentary, rather than a brand-led advert. The key insight that shaped this overall approach was that global audiences are interested in iconic brands – but not when those stories are told by the brands themselves. So, we set out to tell this story in a unique & innovative way: through the voices of others & without brand editorial control. As such, we earned editorial coverage, not paid media spots, within the channels & places consumers go to be inspired & entertained: TV & VOD.

As well as a pioneering acquisition by Discovery, the documentary was also locally syndicated (such as SonyLIV, TrueID & BAND TV), & a dedicated branded global campaign hub signposted consumers as to where to watch, ensuring locally-led & relevant availability, across 59 markets.

From a pilot for a long-form documentary that would tell the story of Johnnie Walker through the voices of others… to a global network acquisition & platform driving talkability, activated through comms to commerce, in 59 markets.

This all happened on an incredibly tight timeline. The brand approved the concept & agreed to provide access on 19th June 2020, the documentary was developed & recorded during the global pandemic working with remote teams in 9 markets, delivering to Discovery 26th October 2020.

Over this 4-month period, placement was also secured via additional syndication partners including Prime Video (12 markets), Digital Hub (22 markets), Sony LIV, True ID, Band TV, GH3 & TV1.

This was supported by global media partnership (LADbible), brand-led co-promotion & content to commerce via Amazon integration & the D-Comm store using documentary equity, delivering a full 360º execution within the same timeline.

Global Press Reach of 1.6B.

9.4m global views (& counting).

75m trailer views.

An unparalleled 5.95m hours – or 680 years – of time spent with the brand.

Official Selection at The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival 2021 & Carmarthen Bay Film Festival 2021.

The innovative long-form format of the content delivering results & depth of knowledge that inspired consumers, by showing up across multiple channels & in a way that traditional brand media couldn’t. Earning its way through editorial, not just paid media