Faced with a category in decline and five years of falling sales in Belgium, Greece and Germany, Johnnie Walker needed to regain relevance among a younger, fashion forward audience – and excite them about the big bold flavour and unique blending craftsmanship of Black Label.

Through an innovative PR campaign which blended European style influencers and a fashion-world first, we reversed a five year trend, reached over 300m people and increased sales in all markets.

We collaborated with fellow Scottish icons, Harris Tweed Hebrides - one of the hottest names in fashion. Together, we created a world first - tweed imbued with the flavour of whisky – the central asset for our flavour story.

The bespoke tweed was truly unique – each colour represented an individual flavour, while the whisky’s scent was blended into the fabric using technology we pioneered with a leading Scottish University.

The fabric was given to influential trendsetters and fashion designers, who created bespoke items, turning 900 square metres of whisky-imbued tweed into backpacks, capes, hats, suits, bow-ties and scarves. It was even used in a Greek Fashion school to inspire students.

We hosted multiple influencer and media events, including Berlin Fashion Week, before the items went on sale in boutiques.

Our campaign delivered over 300 pieces of coverage, 97% message penetration and reached over 300m people. The PR value of the campaign exceeded £1m – increasing sales in Greece by 7.9%, Belgium by 9.7% and in Germany by 0.3% – putting Johnnie Walker firmly (and stylishly) back in the black.

We set out to implement a campaign which:

- Had the product at its heart, communicated flavour, drove reappraisal and boosted sales

- Got the brand into the hands of the fashion and style influencers who influence our audience

- Delivered widespread coverage by providing a creative which was locally adaptable for maximum impact

- Delivered a flavour message throughout

- Ultimately led to an increase in sales

We conducted extensive in-market research and worked with local agency partners to identify the optimum influencer partners, target media and existing attitudes towards whisky we would need to change.

The campaign exceeded all KPIs and objectives:

Appeal to a new, younger audience of 25 – 35 year old men in Western

Europe:

- 300 pieces of coverage across Western Europe in top tier men’s fashion and lifestyle media, including Esquire, Vogue Homme and High Snobiety

- Campaign reach in excess of 300 million

Drive brand reappraisal and sales:

- Sales increase in Belgium (9.8%) and Greece (7.9%)

- Brand talkability among 25 – 34 year old men grew by a third

- Increased penetration and value share in Germany

- Increased Facebook engagement by 55%

Tap into a pre-existing passion point for our audience:

- 900m of flavoured fabric was turned into backpacks, capes, safari blankets, hats, bow-ties, scarves and hip flasks

- We have been approached by high profile designers across Europe, requesting collaborations and fabric for their own designs, including an invitation to show at Milan Fashion Week

The campaign was implemented throughout Q4 2014; a core time in the whisky-selling calendar:

PHASE 1: worked with Harris Tweed Hebrides to pioneer a fabric imbued with the scent of whisky, with the design and scent inspired by the flavour notes of Johnnie Walker Black label. We documented this journey with ‘making of’ photography and videography

PHASE 2: conducted an exclusive trip for features press to have a first glimpse of the fabric; even helping the weavers to create it

PHASE 3: markets partnered with local fashion designers and trendsetters, who were challenged to incorporate the fabric into items inspired by the spirit of Johnnie walker

PHASE 4: developed mechanics so consumers could engage directly with the project; either through retail partnerships or competitions. This element of the campaign wasn’t included in our original plans but the hugely positive response to the project encouraged us to increase its accessibility

• After five years of declining sales, Johnnie Walker needed to boost relevance among 25-35 year old men in Western Europe, with a specific focus on UK, Germany, Belgium and Greece.

• With competitors stealing share across Western Europe, the iconic whisky brand needed a pioneering comms platform to engage the Johnnie Walker with its big, bold flavour story.

• The activation needed to be bold and innovative, communicate the core product credentials and progressive attitude at the heart of the activity, and be flexible enough to work in markets with a distinctive and disparate consumer audience - and different media appetites.

The 25-35 year old Western European might not be a trendsetter, but he knows the style-hunter’s to do list, especially the latest products or clever designs that make his life easier, and cooler. He’s not necessarily a whisky drinker, but is interested in all that’s new and novel.

To be relevant and meaningful to this audience, we had to be genuinely bold and progressive in our ideas and execution, deliver new experiences, and be where he is, specifically in style and fashion.

Knowing our core target audience in each local market wants news which is directly relevant to them and their lives, our strategy focused on uniting Western European markets through one locally-adaptable and relevant creative platform, to create synergy across communications while allowing for in-market relevance. We needed content to work across multiple platforms, drive conversation online as well as stand out in crowded fashion and style media.