Context

Whisky Festival is an annual Diageo activation, created to boost sales of a product with limited reach.

In addition to the price, whiskey has difficulty becoming popular among young people because it is seen as something too traditional. It has many rules of use, imposed by previous generations of people. As a result, it ends up being classified as a “drink for older and...boring people”.

Insight

We created an activation that was very focused on rejuvenating the product category, bringing a lighter, more dynamic look that was connected to nightlife.

But the big idea was precisely to break the rules. In this campaign, we encouraged young people to mix whiskey with juice, soda and whatever else they wanted.

The drinks created from there were not so expensive, broke the rigidity with which the public views whiskey and led to experimentation with a drink that many had spent years refusing to consume.

Research and results

The activation was carried out in 2012 and the perception, based on several field studies, that one of the obstacles to the popularization of whiskey among young people was less the price and more the excessive tradition in consumption proved to be correct.

In 2019, this text showed that, all over the world, the rule of breaking the rules was followed and showed great results. Below is an excerpt from the article and the link:

““I suppose one thing is, it’s now more readily available to get information on interesting drinks now,” McCarron says. Indeed, the growth curve of the internet matches that of whisky – as people have become more able to do their research, the prohibitive secrecy of the “rules” for drinking whisky has vanished. Anyone can get information on how to consume, taste and enjoy. They can follow the “rules” if they like. Or not. Because those rules are dissolving.”

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