Diageo AdWatch

Campaign Overview

Placing an emphasis on the taste of its whisky, Johnnie Walker’s Digital and TV spots make use of music and dance to communicate the flavour alongside Jonathan Major’s descriptive tasting notes. Featured alongside Majors is the British jazz quartet The Ezra Collective, whose music gives the creative (and by extension, the whisky) a contemporary and luxurious tone. The warm orange and golden sound stage in which the creative is filmed resembles the colouration of the whisky itself, establishing a visual connection between the brand and its advertising.

Key Learnings

Specifically elevating its Black Label range above the rest of its portfolio, Johnnie Walker is responding to customer trends that show consumers are enjoying premium-tier products. The brand itself saw its sales increase 34% vs. 2021, topping 21 million cases for the first time, and this new global strategy seeks to build upon that growth with a core focus on taste/flavour as opposed to its standard “keep walking” brand messaging.

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Campaign Overview

This creative, which featured in Colombia and Panama, highlights how extreme heat can have a dramatic effect on a person’s decision making, as they try desperately to find an efficient way to cool down. In a light-hearted montage, Soberana showcases a variety of people employing unusual methods to lower their body temperature, such as putting their head in a fishbowl, surrounding themselves with fans, creating a dress made of ice, or even just living in a fridge. The company emphasises the absurdity of these ideas, before highlighting how there is one solution that does work: opening a bottle of a refreshing Cerveza Soberana.

Key Learnings

Providing refreshment is a tactic often seen in the non-alcohol sector, with Sprite releasing a creative in August 2022 that explored similar themes. By employing absurdist humour in a relatable domestic setting, Soberana ensures that the message behind this campaign is memorable, with customers understanding how the company’s beer can have a positive mental and physical impact on one’s wellbeing. The brand therefore emphasises how on swelteringly hot days, its beverage should be seen as a necessity, rather than an optional treat.

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Campaign Overview

Running across ten markets, (US, UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Greece and the Netherlands), the ‘Stir Creativity’ campaign seeks to encourage amateurs and professionals alike to share what inspired them to create their art using the hashtag #SawThisMadeThis. With a focus on everyday items acting as muses, the digital campaign seeded short videos on social media channels to demonstrate how the mundane can be reinterpreted as something beautiful.

The strategy will collaborate with hundreds of artists to showcase ‘before-and-after’ pictures of items and the art it inspired, with consumers invited to submit their own images to an online gallery. The campaign will ultimately culminate with a physical exhibition in venues across London and New York.

Key Learnings

With its iconic blue bottle, Bombay Sapphire is a brand known for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary and this strategy encourages its audience to do the same. Partnering with Luhrmann, a visionary director known for his bold imagery, provides the strategy with authenticity and legitimacy – appealing to creatives of all disciplines and experience.

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Campaign Overview

The company hopes to introduce its customers to a broader array of musical genres, with this cross-genre, cross-culture platform allowing people to come together to expand their taste in music. Four local artists have been brought on board, two from Vietnam and two from Malaysia, to refresh and reinterpret songs by The Chainsmokers in their own distinctive style. The campaign will conclude with two concerts headlined by the electropop duo, with the four local artists also on hand to perform their cover versions. For fans who cannot attend, the concerts will be livestreamed on The Refresh Hub, which also features special playlists, competitions, and latest news and events.

The Chainsmokers: “We are thrilled to be a part of HEINEKEN®’s Refresh Your Music, Refresh Your Nights campaign. We have always believed that music has the power to break any barriers, and that is why this campaign resonated with us. We are excited to perform with some of the most well-loved artists from the region and introduce people to new genres of music”.

Key Learnings

Heineken hopes with this campaign to expose customers to new musical styles and genres, but more importantly to a fresh perspective. By championing new experiences and having an open mind, Heineken will be able to challenge the public’s perception of the brand, encouraging new customers to approach its beer without any reservations. Moreover, the collaboration with The Chainsmokers will ensure a sizable level of engagement, given the duo’s significant global following.

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Campaign Overview

This creative highlights how Coca-Cola believes ‘real magic happens when people meet face-to-face’. With Diwali on the horizon, the company aimed to generate this level of in-person excitement by launching the ‘Locked Coke’ initiative, a specially-designed bottle that can only be opened when you meet the sender in real life. Customised bottle caps outlined who the Coca-Cola had been sent by, and featured a Bluetooth-enabled lock that could only be unlocked by the sender’s smartphone. The brand promised its customers that if they make the effort, the gift they’ll end up with is ‘much more than a Coke’, before showing friends and family coming together for a jubilant Diwali celebration.

Key Learnings

The COVID-19 pandemic redefined how numerous social occasions are organised, with virtual meet-ups persisting even after lockdown rules and social distancing guidelines had been lifted. Coca-Cola here positions its product as the catalyst for much-need face-to-face socialising, outlining how it still sits at the heart of communal celebration. It demonstrates its unique global appeal by focusing on a prominent religious festival, and its commitment to the digital nature of this initiative emphasises how it strives to be a modern, forward-thinking brand.

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Campaign Overview

The champagne brand has a long-standing association with the British secret agent, with Bond drinking Bollinger in both Ian Fleming’s novels and the subsequent films. To mark 60 years since Bond’s silver screen debut with ‘Dr No’, the company has unveiled a special installation at its Burlington Bar in London. The installation channels a 1960s chic and is covered in multicoloured dots that are inspired by the opening credits to ‘Dr No’. Moreover, 25 individual jeroboams pay tribute to the franchise’s 25 films, with the iconic gun barrel present in the centre of the bar.

Victoria Carfantan, director of Champagne Bollinger, Group Bollinger UK & global partnerships: “The Bollinger Burlington Bar, the jewel in the crown of Mayfair, is the perfect location to showcase Bollinger’s longstanding partnership with 007. Inspired by Dr. No, the 60th Anniversary of 007 provided a rare opportunity to create a bold and impactful installation to capture the collectors’ piece, whist at the same time guests can enjoy a glass of Champagne Bollinger.”

Key Learnings

For six decades, James Bond has been a worldwide style icon, whose good looks are matched by his supreme skills as a secret agent. Bollinger has not only benefitted from the consistent exposure of featuring in the series’ novels and films, but it has only been able to draw comparisons between its champagne and Bond himself, with both possessing style and quality in abundance. This latest installation emphasises the comparisons between the two, and signals a prosperous future for both the franchise and Bollinger.

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Campaign Overview

Gently mocking brands who engage with the latest technologies without fully understanding them, this digital video campaign from Archer Roose continues to establish an irreverent tone for the canned wine company. Fronted by Elizabeth Banks (who is also the chief creative officer for the brand), the campaign feels authentic to her comedic persona, much like how Ryan Reynolds’ persona seems embedded in his content for Aviation Gin.

“You’re seeing every brand race to have a presence on the metaverse,” says Banks, “But a lot of consumers don’t really understand what that means. As a brand, there’s an opportunity to connect and laugh with consumers and say, ‘don’t worry, you’re not alone.'” Archer Roose has made fun of marketing conventions in the past by having Elizabeth Banks force herself into the company and her role as CCO, as opposed to having the brand invite and welcome her in.

Key Learnings

As brands continue to tether themselves to celebrity spokespeople, their personalities become entwined with the brand itself. Elizabeth Banks’ unconventional brand ambassador role suits the canned wine brand, which itself is an unconventional way of enjoying wine. Demonstrating self-awareness and wit, the campaign positions Archer Roose as separate from the mainstream and not willing to follow the industry zeitgeist. This aspect of its brand identity is visible in its decision to eschew committing to a specific geographical wine and instead deliver a collection of ‘worldly wines’ from a variety of locations.

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