Attracting New Consumers in a Crowded Category

An untraditional approach for a traditional brand.

Challenge

Our client wanted to educate new adult drinkers about The Macallan's rich history of the craft that goes into every bottle, but they also knew they wanted it to be engaging and immersive.

Approach

For a whisky brand with such an authentic heritage firmly rooted in history (like so many competitors), we needed to find a way to engage consumers in a category that can often seem complicated and inaccessible.

Through hidden needs research and tapping into our local market community, we learned that while consumers were interested in the brand, they often felt intimidated and uneducated about the category.

We knew it was far easier to appreciate The Macallan story after a guided tasting like the ones they offer in The Macallan Estate in Speyside, Scotland – where every ounce of the amber liquid is produced.

So instead of issuing thousands of airline tickets, we brought the multi-sensory tasting experience of Speyside to life in 10 cities across the US. A night at The Macallan Manor rewarded consumers' curiosity through an immersive exploration of accessible sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes of the multidimensional characteristics of the liquid.

By reframing traditional expectations and making the brand more accessible to new enthusiasts, we created an immersive environment for consumers to enter into a complete brand experience that made it more relatable to where they were on their whisky journey.

Output

• Activation Strategy
• Experience Design
• Global Experience Guidelines
• Launched in 10 cities across the US