Most innovative spirits campaigns in November

With a myriad of spirits vying for consumer attention, brands are having to invent increasingly imaginative ways of ensuring they stand out from the crowd.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey was part of a myriad of brands to launch a new marketing campaign last month

Whether it’s in the form of a print campaign, radio, competition or television advert, marketing campaigns have proved a worthwhile tool for big brands and smaller, independent producers alike.

November proved to be an innovative month for campaign launches from short films to celebrity signings.

While William Grant & Sons launched its first Drambuie TV advert revealing some never-before-see footage, Sean “Diddy” Combs took over the whole of New York Time’s Square for the latest campaign for Ciroc vodka.

But Combs wasn’t the only famous face involved in some clever marketing tactics; elsewhere Tomintoul Distillery agreed a sponsorship deal with a world champion golfer and Spey Whisky embarked on a project with a retired footballer.

For a full round-up of the top 10 spirits campaigns launched in November, click through to the following pages.

Here’s to Us, Baileys

Irish cream brand Baileys launched a global advertising campaign in an effort to attract a new generation of millennial women to the tipple.

The “Here’s to Now” campaign – created by BBH London – aims to celebrate the power of female friendship and encourages women to get together and raise a toast to what they mean to each other.

The TV commercial is the first series in the Baileys campaign and depicts girls’ nights out in different parts of the world, and is being accompanied by a print campaign delivering Baileys serves to “inspire” women to toast each other with Baileys.

The campaign was launched first in the UK, western Europe and the US, but will be rolled out to other markets in due course.  

Ballantine’s Live, Ballantine’s

Ballantine’s embarked upon a social experiment exploring how the world is drinking whisky through data generated on social media platforms.

Titled “Ballantine’s Live”, the campaign aims to connect with fans of Ballantine’s Finest and increase awareness and education of Ballantine’s 12 Year Old expression.

Social media posts will then be analysed to determine if they are typical of either a Ballantine’s Finest or 12 Year Old, taking into account hashtags, images, filters, time of day and locations used by fans.

The data will then be published on Ballantineslive.com, depicting the most talked about Finest and 12 Year Old occasions on Twitters, the most “checked-in” bars by Ballantine’s consumers via Foursqaure, plus the most used filters on Instagram by those drinking Ballantine’s.

Because No Reason, Chambord

Premium French black raspberry liqueur Chambord re-released its “Because No Reason” advertising campaign last month in the lead-up to Christmas.

Originally launched in July 2014, the campaign aims to “build momentum” and “empower” women to ignore pressure to conform to social norms and instead stay true to themselves.

The advert features a flamingo and a lady, both standing on one leg, questioning why the woman is doing so? The answer is “there is no reason” – she simply wants to, and so does. It is aimed at inspiring women to say “Why not?” rather than “Why?”

Found Film, Drambuie

Found Film is the first Drambuie TV advert from William Grant & Sons since the company bough the Scotch whisky liqueur brand earlier this year.

The commercial is set in 1960s New York and was created by New York agency Opperman Weiss. It depicts a never-before-seen 8mm film reel shot behind the scenes at a recording of a Drambuie adaptation of a 60s jingle “Scotch and Honey”, with the lyrics: “Scotch and Scotch and Scotch and honey, a little spice and you’re in the money. It’s Drambuie.”

The advert was broadcast in the US for the first time last month and two 15 and 30 second versions will be aired throughout the Christmas period.

Festive Moments are Worth Sharing, The Famous Grouse

The Famous Grouse has agreed a £1.1 million sponsorship deal with Channel 4 and UKTV’s Christmas programming.

Launched in November, the advertising campaign will run until Hogmanay and broadcast to a several genres and programming to ensure the brand is “top of mind” over the Christmas period.

It has been designed to inspire consumers that “Festive Moments are Worth Sharing” and that they can create their own personalised label complete with a photo free of charge.

The personalisation was first launched last Christmas as part of makesomeonefamous.com, and is available on all 1L and 700ml bottles of The Famous Grouse, which RRP at £23.10 and £17.10 respectively.

Untraditional Traditions, Jack Daniel’s

This Christmas, Jack Daniel’s is leaving traditions behind in favour of its new campaign that focuses on Untraditional Traditions.

Tennessee whiskey fans are invited to share their untraditional traditions on social media sites using the hashtag #spiritofjack, which are then shared on Jack Daniel’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Furthermore, Jack Daniel’s is also broadcasting its 30-second Barrel Tree advert showing people building the brand’s annual 26ft Christmas tree in its hometown Lynchburg.

Designed to symbolise “good times, good friends and good whiskey”, the last picture from the commercial displays the complete Jack Daniel’s range.

Spey Whisky Michael Owen 1412, Spey Whisky

Spey Whisky announced last month that former England footballer Michael Owen is set to act as a “Trojan horse” for the brand in China as it readies to launch a limited edition expression in Asia.

The company hopes the Michael Owen “brand” will help the group reach its target audience in China, when the Spey Whisky Michael Owen 1412 launches in Taiwan on 14 December to mark the former footballer’s birthday.

“Michael is a very big brand in China, but we’re not,” John Harvey McDonogh, CEO of Spey Whisky producer Speyside Distillers, told The Spirits Business.

“We have a good business in Taiwan, we like to thin we can develop the brand around the world but the big opportunity is China, and our Trojan horse is Michael Owen.”

The expression is a no-age-statement whisky matured in Bourbon casks before two additional finishes in Sherry casks for eight months, and tawny Port casks for six months, and comes as part of Owen’s three-year contract with Spey Whisky, which will see him lend his name to a series of bottlings.

Step Into The Circle, Ciroc Vodka

Former rap star Sean “Diddy” Combs and Diageo built a giant dome in New York’s Time Square in November to mark the launch of their latest marketing campaign for Ciroc, Step Into the Circle.

The temporary 24-hour installation, which measured 36x21ft, launched the new campaign alongside the world premiere of a television ad shown on Duffy Square’s 14 billboards, which features cameos from rapper French Montana, artist Jermaine Dupro and singer Cassie.

It has been designed to be a more inclusive campaign, moving away from the brand’s Luck Be A Lady campaign, which centred on P.Diddy’s glamorous lifestyle.

Print, out-of-home, digital and on- and off-premise advertising will also support the commercial.

Furthermore, Diageo plans to run a social responsibility campaign alongside Step Into The Circle, which will be aired on American network and cable channels over Christmas and into next year.

Joe Miller, Tomintoul Distillery

In an effort to build international publicity for its single malt whisky, Tomintoul Distillery entered into a sponsorship deal with leading long distance golf driver Joe Miller.

As a result, the Speyside distillery will gain prominent visibility at key events Miller takes par in, including the World Matchplay Championship, the European Long Drive series (LDET) and the World Long Drive Championship.

The sport is still quite new, but has amassed a large following of fans in the US and throughout Europe and continues to gain media coverage.

Duncan Baldwin, senior brand ambassador for Tomintoul, commented: “This is a unique opportunity to provide international publicity for our malt whisky at this stage of its development alongside an exciting and relatively new form of competition golf which is increasing exponentially.”

Unrush Your World, Yeni Raki

Turkish aniseed brand Yeni Raki is encouraging consumers to slow down with its latest global marketing campaign, Unrush Your World.

Created by KesselsKramer, the campaign will focus on London, Berlin and Cologne using on-trade, PR, ATL and digital campaigns to inspire a new generation of consumers to embrace the “spirit of slow”.

Each aspect of the campaign from Raki food pairings in top restaurants to imagery captured by photographer Elaine Costantine, has been designed to communicate the Mediterranean way of savouring memorable moments around a “raki sofrasi” (raki table).

In addition, a new website yenirakiglobal.com featuring recipes, interviews with famous chefs and information on pairing food with Yeni Raki has also been launched, as well as a Raki and Fish book compiled by top Turkish and Mediterranean chefs.