Write a short summary of what happens in the film

How do you entice 25-40 year old non-whisky drinkers to taste whisky? Inspire them with ‘Whisky Worthy Stories’. Our 12 minute film is set in a stunning bar, a replica of which guests can have a drink in when they exit our purpose built cinema fitted with the latest scent release and sound technology. Our host, who breaks the 4th wall to engage with the audience is Erin, the Scottish Mixologist who personifies the brand. She artfully goes between insightful whisky ‘know hows’ and intriguing conversations with two Asian heroes, Marese a Filipino free diver and Dr Purev a Mongolian Eye Doctor. Each character tells their true Whisky Worthy Story. Each story is perfectly paired with a stunning whisky, which guests are guided to taste and as the narrative plays out we see that each story aligns with the brand’s ethos; bold decisions can lead to pursuing something greater.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

We invited The Macallan to action their philosophy of ‘dare to pursue something greater’ and hero true Asian stories as the face of their Scottish brand. We went on a quest for real stories that encapsulate the brand, the whisky flavours, reflect our Asian audience values. After a vast amount of story curation and copyright negotiation, we unearthed the true stories of Dr Purev and Marese Secades. Applying an Asian cast and Asian storylines to speak to an Asian market, guaranteed the stories resonated and connected with a local audience. Our film gives our audience an education about whisky, how to experience every flavour of it and featured inspiring stories the audience can identify with. Navigating an ever-challenging COVID landscape, the production team used cast and crew native to the region allowing us to support local industries and travel during a time of global lockdown.

Explain how the work innovatively used the film medium.

Cinema and whisky tastings are two experiences our audience would not expect to co-exist. Expectation denies memories - just one of the neuroscience techniques we applied to create a highly emotive film to enhance brand memories. The narrative played on visualisation as it dared guests to imagine what life could be if they made bold decisions. We applied ASMR, Infrasound, Directional and 3D sound techniques to help guests ‘feel’ the story and triggered our strongest emotional sense, smell (up to 75% of emotion is driven by smell), to release scents into the cinema to complement the respective whiskies. As guests leave the cinema we reveal The Macallan bar, a replica of the bar in the film, which allows them to step into the film and tell their whisky worthy stories. A lasting touch that plays on the science of surprise, a technique which can be up to 400x more memorable.