The Campaign

Glenfiddich’s marketing strategy in Asia is rooted in effective advocacy through platforms that engages its stakeholders through experiential activations, allowing every individual to gain their own unique experiences with the distillery, its rich history and its “World’s Most Awarded” range of single malt Scotch whiskies. With this goal in mind, Glenfiddich wanted to create a platform for consumers, media, influencers and business partners that would achieve the following: 1. Educate them about the category and premium credentials of the brand 2. Engage and immerse them in a persuasive and compelling experience to convert them into brand evangelists to drive word-of-mouth advocacy “The Glenfiddich Experience” campaign was birthed to bring the Glenfiddich distillery experience to Thailand, with a space created to share its brand heritage and the distillery process behind each expression. Through this unfolding of the Glenfiddich story, guests were embraced and immersed in its tale, charm and romanticism that is “The Glenfiddich Experience”. The campaign concluded with a resounding success, where opinion leader advocacy and brand evangelism on all media platforms effectively amplified the activation and brand. With the right conversations being ignited and maintained amongst the key stakeholders, Glenfiddich was able to successfully convince the rest of the market on the covetousness of the brand. With total returns on investment amounting to 500.40%, and media coverage and social media taking up 85.54%, the client is already planning for “The Glenfiddich Experience” to be rolled out in other key markets in Southeast Asia.

The Brief

Business Goals: • Drive incremental volume, revenue and profit across Glenfiddich’s portfolio through a holistic communications plan that can amplify its premium credentials • Maximise reach to key stakeholders through a persuasive and compelling experience of “The Glenfiddich Experience”, encouraging word-of-mouth conversations that boost brand education even after campaign has concluded Communications Goals: • Generate international brand name awareness and media visibility of Glenfiddich’s heritage, defining the dedication that goes into their liquid, positioning as unique amongst single malts • Initiate and maintain brand’s position as premium destination for single malt Scotch whisky category – thereby enhancing value growth trajectory

Results

Business: • Drive incremental volume, revenue and profit across Glenfiddich portfolio during events with 40 bottles worth THB 210,000 sold at the pop-up retail shop • Significant volume of unique trials of Glenfiddich core variants with at least 3,800 unique trials by 1,000 guests throughout series • Approximately 150 guests attended the high-end guided tasting dinner where Glenfiddich was lauded for the exceptional delivery of every course on every night Communications: • 150 guests including celebrities and trade partners attended, while 45 journalists from 32 publications attended • 10,693,087 media impressions was garnered to date • A total of 39 pieces of coverage arising from event clipped, including top tier broadcast, print and online publications and social media posts to date • Total returns on investment aggregated at 500.40% with PR taking up 85.54% of it

Execution

Focusing on a holistic sensory experience, the pop-up distillery experience was recreated using state-of-the-art technology and physical craftsmanship to replicate scenes from its original site enabling guests to interact with the brand in a deeper manner while retaining the look, feel and nose of the original. Each night during the 5-day roadshow, hundreds of guests were invited for a distillery tour where guests had the opportunity to learn and sample the various expressions, with a launch party attended by famous celebrities and influencer media. Special VIPs were also hosted for a bespoke degustation dinner menu co-developed by famed chef Emmanuel Stroobant and Glenfiddich Regional Brand Ambassador. Basing story angles around the distillery, brand heritage and Glenfiddich’s commercial activities in Thailand, we were able to successfully convey strong brand messaging around Glenfiddich without running into issues around overt alcohol promotion in a dark market like Thailand.

The Situation

With the client’s long-term premiumisation strategy driven by PR; this regional flagship campaign was expected to be the catalyst Glenfiddich needed to drive incremental sales growth through significant PR and stakeholder relations forged. Given that the premium alcohol market in Asia is booming where consumption of premium whisky has outpaced general spirits market, as well as the overall whisky category, expectations for this campaign to excel was high amidst intense competition. Furthermore, with Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia as dark markets for alcohol promotion, it was imperative that PR helps bridge all communications expectations through a sound strategy.

The Strategy

Activate Glenfiddich’s greatest advocacy asset – The Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland. Unfortunately Glenfiddich is unable to bring everyone to the distillery, therefore they wanted to bring the Glenfiddich Distillery to the audience instead. “The Glenfiddich Experience” was recreated and housed in the 100-year old Neilson Hays Library in Bangkok. Multi-touch digital technology, 3D art effects, physical installations and a carefully crafted whisky pairing dinner menu by Celebrity Chef Emmanuel Stroobant was used to transport the distillery experience – the perfect trigger for awed conversations. With this strategy, the following was executed: 1. Provides a strong synergy that embodies both the prior and current brand propositions – “Pioneering Spirit” and “Family Owned since 1887” respectively, allowing a direct transition from the old to the new. 2. Engagement in each unique experience of the pop-up distillery provides a strong proposition for Glenfiddich to provide a compelling emotional benefit to the consumer