RETRACING A 200 HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD VOYAGE TO LAUNCH A NEW LUXURY WHISKY – ‘ODYSSEY

TitleRETRACING A 200 HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD VOYAGE TO LAUNCH A NEW LUXURY WHISKY – ‘ODYSSEY
BrandJOHNNIE WALKER
Product / ServiceJOHN WALKER & SON ODYSSEY
CategoryA05. Best Launch or Re-Launch
EntrantFLEISHMAN-HILLARD SHANGHAI, CHINA
PR Agency FLEISHMAN-HILLARD SHANGHAI, CHINA
Entrant Company FLEISHMAN-HILLARD SHANGHAI, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Lydia Hu Fleishman Hillard Senior Account Exective
Vivian Jin Fleishman Hillard Account Director
Alex He Fleishman Hillard Svp/Gm For China Business Development
Michelle Guo Moet Hennessy Diageo(China) Johnnie Walker Brand Manager
Siewting Foo Moet Hennessy Diageo(China) Johnnie Walker Brand Director

The Campaign

As spirits brands look to Asia as a growth engine, especially for premium brands, competition is rough sailing. In these choppy competitive waters, wine and spirits giant Diageo, parent to Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky, launched super-deluxe Johnnie Walker Odyssey as an exquisite Scotch Whisky packaged in a round-bottomed crystal bottle. The tumbler design replicated the bottle introduced by Johnnie Walker 80 years ago for yacht travel. With an extraordinary product ready to launch, the question became how to do so in an equally extraordinary way that also would illuminate Johnnie Walker’s rich heritage. The creative response was a campaign built upon Johnny Walker’s own historical story. The yacht John Walker & Sons Voyager – a reproduction of the ship that sailed the seas over two-hundred years ago to export Walker whiskys – was created and unveiled with fanfare before embarking on a port-of-call tour throughout the region. The “Journey” served as a spectacular venue for introducing luxury-oriented connoisseurs to the new whisky Odyssey. The audience for Odyssey is “True Progressives,” social elites “born under Mao, but educated under Bill Gates.” This group is characterized by its spirit of adventure and risk-taking, appreciation of heritage, and pursuit of new passions and life experiences. To make Odyssey a compelling choice for the “True Progressive,” Odyssey had to blend a deep association with luxury into Johnnie Walker’s previous image as a less extravagant brand. Our challenge was to convince Johnnie Walker’s defined audience of Odyssey’s authenticity as a deluxe Scotch whisky and luxury product.

The Brief

Objectives of the campaign were to: • Launch Johnnie Walker’s super- deluxe Odyssey Scotch Whisky in Asia to capture maximum attention and engagement among the brand’s social elites target audience (“True Progressives”) and underline the whisky’s luxury positioning • Create awareness of the rich heritage and luxury bloodlines of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky products dating back to the 1820s • Develop affinity between the brand and the social elite consumer segment

Results

The launch event and the Johnnie Walker & Sons Voyager received full-page coverage in more than 28 publications, and won three media awards in China within a short, three-month period. Twenty-one media interviews were recorded with senior executives from Diageo, owner of the Johnnie Walker brand. The launch event was attended by more than 75 nation-wide and 5 international reporters, spanning the categories of business, luxury, lifestyle and fashion. It also attracted the heads of 15 top-tier media organizations. Total ad value reached more than RMB 41,631,446 with over 337 TV, print and web media clippings generated. Together, these communications successes have positioned Odyssey as a distinctive and authentic luxury product in the China market.

Execution

The Yacht. The brand created a replica of the John Walker & Sons Voyager. The Route. Campaign charted a course that began in Shanghai and sailed to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Viet Nam, Philippines and Hong Kong. Launch Event and Press Conference. Dinner launch event at the Port of Shanghai culminated in the dramatic reveal of the Voyager docked behind massive curtains at the venue. Guests toured the Voyager before it embarked from Shanghai on its journey. Ports of Call Tasting Events. Whisky connoisseurs and an exclusive audience of “True Progressives” were invited to “celebrate life’s great journeys” aboard the ship that included tastings of the new Scotch Whisky. Media Outreach. [Described in result parts] Key Opinion Leaders and Celebrities. Campaign secured strong endorsements from celebrities and opinion leaders who embody the spirit of the “True Progressive,” including Ms. WANG Xiaohui, architect Mr. MA Yansong, and movie starts FAN Bingbing and CHEN Kun.

The Situation

For global wine and spirits giant Diageo, the Johnnie Walker brand continues to be a major force in its stable of worldwide brands. Asia is key to Diageo’s race, with 80 percent growth in its shipments coming from Asia, and half of this half of this growth occurring among premium brands such as Johnny Walker. Next in sight was growing share of the super-premium category. On the 80th anniversary of Johnnie Walker’s innovative round-bottomed bottle used in yacht travel, Diageo’s introduced super- deluxe Johnnie Walker Odyssey to appeal to Asia’s affluent whisky connoisseurs and secure long-lasting brand loyalty among these consumers.

The Strategy

Build a campaign that seamlessly links Johnnie Walker heritage with modernity, tapping into the spirit of adventure that characterizes social elites and their admiration for luxury brands with a distinctive heritage, while telling the story of the Johnnie Walker brand’s own amazing journey and association with luxury. Time the campaign with the 80th anniversary of the round-bottom bottom used in yacht travel of the period and that now is the decanter for Odyssey. (The bottle sways with the motion of the sea and is always pointed up.) Reproduce the yacht John Walker & Sons Voyager and seafaring journey of Sir Alexander Walker II to the far ends of Asia in the early 1800’s to export whisky, inviting celebrities and other guests to board the ship at key ports of call to experience luxury Johnnie Walker style and taste the new Odyssey Scotch Whisky in this spectacular setting.