Johnnie Walker wanted to draw attention to gender inequalities and challange societal conditions concerning women, and empower them overcome limitations. But empowering women in this region is not the same as empowering western women. In the CEE, feminist issues are a bit different: deeply rooted in our traditionalist, sexist, patriarchal societies and post-Soviet history. We are still trying to bring down the shared frame of reference that women are much more frail, incompetent, and altogether less capable than men. As a result CEE women have it harder, in any walks of life: less salary, less female leaders, less female role models, less representation, less appreciation. A different approach was needed to address the issues with the objectives being awareness, reach and engagement amongst peers while activating our followers and opinion leaders to join in on rasing awareness to the issues of what women face in Hungary.

We found that only 2% of influencers engage in political discussions and social issues like gender inequality, and they prefer fashion, lifestyle topics instead. So we decided to send them something so they can literally unpack the topic: a unique sneaker designed to be unboxed to break the silence around gender inequality. With a catch: The sneakers were unwalkable until people cut off their extremely long labels, which stated all the barriers and limitations women encounter in Hungary.

Johnnie Walker has been about progress from the get go. About Keep Walking. About taking action for collective progress. But how can we talk about progress when women are kept from unleashing their full potential and are not looked as equal? Just like how it is with drinking whiskey, women feel some things are simply not for them because of decades of being conditioned to think so. With 59,2% of Johnnie Walker drinkers in Eastern Europe being women, we wanted them to make them feel that they can 'Tear off These Limits and Take a Step for Change' to a path to keep walking equally. To get the message accross and activate people, we targeted women and men on all platforms by choosing the right influencers the sneaker was sent to, covering different groups, ages, amplified towards Johnnie Walker's followerbase, as nearly 50% of them are women as well.

In collaboration with Dorko, the biggest Hungarian sportswear brand, Johnnie Walker dropped its first ever sneaker on International Women’s Day. The sneaker was sent to prominent Hungarian influencers to make unboxing videos where they not just unpacked the shoe itself, but the barriers and current state of being a woman in the country. Beside this, the sneaker hit the shelves of every Dorko store around the country, with all proceeds of selling it going toward Equator Fundation, a prominent Hungarian organization supporting women's rights and gender equality. Making the unboxing become a symbolic act, and wearing the sneakers a symbol of overcoming the limitations of women.

The campaign delivered outstanding results:

All 1000 pair of sneakers were sold. With all proceeds going towards Equator Foundation supporting gender equality and women's rights.

The campaign generated 18 978 869 impressions across all platforms.

Website visits compared to previous months(January, February) jumped by 958,6%

Johnnie Walker's followerbase on increased by 185,8% across Facebook and Instagram.

Reached the engagement rate of 36,1%, 12x above benchmark, being the top perfomer Johnnie Walker campaign in Hungary.