GLENFIDDICH TRYING TO WREST BACK NO 1 SPOT

 The Glenfiddich OUT OF HOME Experimental Series

Despite being the world’s most awarded single malt whisky and pioneer of the category, Glenfiddich global market share was static and it had slipped to become the No.2 brand in 2017. It embarked upon a bold strategy to reassert its leadership by recruiting a new generation of drinkers with the introduction of a new range of innovative whiskies. William Grant & Sons UK launched its first ever dynamic digital out of home (OOH) campaign for Glenfiddich and its innovative Experimental Series.

Glenfiddich Experimental Series, the result of collaborations with trailblazers from the whisky world and beyond, aimed to position the brand as a more accessible and exciting choice amongst drinkers previously alienated by the stuffy conventions associated with whisky.

Devised by OOH and location marketing specialists, the campaign sought to capture the attention of whisky fans at the right time of day and week for enjoying a drink.  The highly targeted campaign used location and behavioural data to determine audience hotspots and identify prime screen locations near on-trade stockists in major UK cities to drive footfall and encourage trial.

Launching with Glenfiddich IPA Experiment, the world’s first single malt whisky finished in India Pale Ale (IPA) casks, and Glenfiddich Project XX, the result of marrying 20 casks into one exceptional whisky, the brand needed a global creative idea that that challenged traditional whisky communication conventions and that was as striking and bold as the liquids themselves.

The campaign idea, “Unlearn Whisky”, communicated the power of maverick thinking, a spirit which has embodied Glenfiddich’s approach to whisky making for over 130 years, and challenges drinkers’ preconceptions of the category by demonstrating how Glenfiddich is rewriting the whisky rulebook.

The third experiment saw Glenfiddich 21 Year Old finished in French-oak ice-wine casks from Canada. Malt Master Brian Kinsman was in Canada in January 2017 and visited a winemaker at a renowned winery in Niagara. Despite the freezing January weather, he braved the tour of the vineyards, where he learned how the grapes had to be picked by moonlight at -10˚C when they were as hard as pebbles. These stories about extreme conditions and the unique production process of the intensely sweet Icewine were inspirational.

When he returned to The Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Brian started experimenting with several French oak Icewine casks from the Canadian winery, filling them with different Glenfiddich aged malts for up to six months. What he found fascinated him. Only the rarer whiskies, those aged for 21 years, could cope with the extra Icewine intensity. Having more tannins, extracted from years in oak, these malts brought out a uniquely fresh lychee note instead of being swamped by sweetness. First released in October 2017, subsequent batches were made available to the public.

Activated through Posterscope’s Liveposter platform, the campaign creative featured all three experiments in a variety of executions with contextually relevant messaging based on location and time. The work ran on Thursdays to Saturdays until the onset of winter on national roadside digital six sheets and National Rail, London Underground and Glasgow subway digital six sheets.

The ability to serve creative and relevant messaging to whisky fans at a time when they would be receptive to such communication, and close to an establishment where they could explore the range for themselves, was an exciting and compelling proposition. By using multiple data sets and OOH location marketing expertise, they aimed to reach the right people at the right time and in the right place and encouraged them into local establishments to taste the unique and unusual flavours of the Glenfiddich Experimental Series.

The campaign for Fire & Cane — the fourth new single-malt offering in Glenfiddich’s “Experimental Series” — aimed to reflect the series’ mission of introducing “unexpected” and inspiring whiskies, while also visually conveying the new spirit’s unusual flavour profile. Although it is officially an NAS whisky, it is said to be between 12 and 15 years of age.

The campaign brought to life the brand’s maverick spirit and in parallel the power of a simple question and how it could lead one on a journey to challenge conventions. The newest expression is an unexpected peated whisky finished in Latin rum casks which provides an explosion of campfire smokiness and toffee sweetness. Fire & Cane is a first of its kind for Glenfiddich. It shows the power of a question by boldly asking, what if …? The new single malt encapsulated Glenfiddich’s spirit of experimentation.

The campaign vindicated the hypothesis that when you questioned convention as Glenfiddich had with Fire and Cane, you could spark the unexpected.