Whisky consumption in France dropped by 4% in 2017 (Nielsen, 2018). French Millennials especially prefer spirits that are easy to mix into cocktails: 60% of them are cocktail drinkers, and they usually enjoy their drinks at home (IPSOS, 2018).

Whisky is not a cocktail spirit, so we turned it into one with an innovation that responded to a consumer insight and a pain point for whisky.

We sold Cocktail Ice through a premium e-retailer to boost its exclusiveness, created an engaging digital video and partnered with Konbini to build a display and content campaign that resonated with French Millennials.

Scotch Whisky brand Label 5, one of the market leaders in France was seen as a rather old-school, mainstream brand. Whisky itself was losing in popularity, especially among Millennials. With an aging audience and unchanged drinking habits, it was time for Label 5 to shake up the spirits world.

We decided to demonstrate Label 5’s innovative mindset with a whole new product to create a new way of enjoying whisky - one that would resonate with Millennials to broaden Label 5’s audience.

We decided to shake up the whisky experience itself.

The common assumption about whisky is that it is best enjoyed on the rocks. But Millennials are fond of cocktails. So when we looked for a creative way to turn whisky into a cocktail spirit, we decided to play with ice.

We imagined and created a brand-new product: Cocktail Ice, the ice cubes that turn your whisky into legendary cocktails. Effortlessly.

We realised that it was Label 5’s opportunity to make the art of mixology accessible to all, at home. And to position itself as a leading-edge innovator in the spirits category.

It was Label 5’s chance to part ways with the old watery whisky on ice and dull whisky and cola, and to put whisky front and centre on the cocktail stage.

Breaking the ice for a new way of enjoying whisky.

Label 5’s core customers are men aged 35 to 45, from low to middle-class backgrounds. An aging audience with unchanged drinking habits. How could Label 5 broaden its audience?

We uncovered that Millennials, who tend to consume alcohol in festive social settings, were fond of cocktails - and so, they liked spirits that are easily mixed into fun cocktails with fanciful names.

Truth is, mixing whisky into cocktails is no easy feat. It requires a specific skill set.

And to the younger generation, whisky is a dusty old man drink, or at best the drink of an initiated few, Mad Men style - which can be intimidating. They do not see it as a fun cocktail spirit.

To rejuvenate whisky and turn it into Millennials’ drink of choice, we decided to create a product that turns whisky into trendy cocktails… and Label 5 into a leading innovation brand.

We undertook 6 months of intensive R&D with expert mixologists and scientists from AROMATICA to create the first ice cubes that turn your whisky into cocktails.

The result: 3 unique blends of flavors, for the ultimate taste experience - Honey Ginger, London Collins and Five Senses. We brought 240 000 Cocktail Ice to the market, through a partnership with vente-privee premium online retailer and in-store activations.

French law is particularly strict for spirits - limiting the types of media and messaging advertisers can use. Because we created a non-alcoholic product, we could publicize it a lot more than Label 5 itself - a way to get around these hard constraints.

To excite and educate people about our new product, we created a digital film to generate engagement on social media. We also partnered with leading French news and lifestyle website Konbini to create editorial content and an exclusive display campaign.

Cocktail Ice caused quite a stir:

240 000 produced items

Over 3 million impressions on social media. 388 000 brand interactions.

Praise from major French publications.

An award in the drinks category from the LSA, the most eminent French retail media.

And Cocktail Ice is still available on destinationcocktails.com e-shop.

Most importantly, we established Label 5 as a blue-chip innovator in the world of spirits, and in the art of cocktail-making.