We created an editorial plan to do just that... ensuring that every brief and post hacked into the culture of the audience and challenged the expectations of how a whisky brand should behave.
An award-nominated campaign with 40m GIPHY hits and a Tinder partnership later, we became their lead Social Strategic Agency.
An award-nominated campaign with 40m GIPHY hits and a Tinder partnership later, we became their lead Social Strategic Agency.
Role - Creative Director / Content Strategy / Editorial Strategy
STAGE 1 - SUBVERT EXPECTATION
That meant every brief - from a bottle shot to a recipe to a brand story, needed to reflect the culture of our audience.
STAY TRUE CITIES - TEL AVIV , the 'most gayest, liberated city in the Middle East', told through the eyes of Performance artist Uriel Yakutiel
STAGE 2 - HACK INTO CULTURE
Look for opportunities to bring the attitude of the brand into cultural events and social talking points... then get people talking about us. The award-nominated 'Ballantine's Day' hack did exactly that. Playing on our 'Stay True' brand promise, we said that if Valentine's Day was for lovers, Ballantine's Day was for mates. So give them a bit of recognition. We gave them the tools to show they love and they truly did.
STAGE 3 - OPEN NEW CHANNELS
Ballantine's Day also gave us the perfect platform to launch our GIPHY channel (currently over 40m interaction). Our message of 'Stay True' to Your Mates was well and truly landing.
NEVER STOP LOOKING FOR NEW STORIES AND EVOLVING
We took an existing format (Stay True Stories) and turned it into a franchisable film format that could be shot in local markets. From Sao Paulo to Tel Aviv, Glasgow to Soweto the 'Stay True Cities Series, now tells the stories of how cities both shape and reflect new movements in culture. Constantly evolving but always staying true to who they are.
EPISODE 3 - TEL AVIV , the 'most gayest, liberated city in the Middle East', told through the eyes of Performance artist Uriel Yakutiel
THEN TAKE THE HYPE GLOBAL
Like a lot of global brands, local relevance is crucial and the brand wanted to think of ways to make editorial culture-hacking work everywhere. Luckily, the Ballantine's team are very forward thinking people and they asked us to come up with a whole new Social Strategy and Editorial Framework to help their local channels grow. The evidence now sits online.
AAAAAND REPEAT...
Ballantine's Day is now part of the culture of the brand and the audience. So we always have fun. Last year, working a collaboration with TINDER to really get into the love your mates vibe. Swiiiipe.
