Tag: Johnnie Walker

Australia – Johnnie Walker, the official partner and sponsor of AFLW, has partnered with Leo Burnett Australia for its ‘Keep Walking Boldly’ campaign, which celebrates the progress made in women’s sports through the launch of a handcrafted boot collection.

In this campaign, five pairs of unique footy boots inspired by past icons of the women’s game will be gifted to current players in the AFL to inspire them to ‘Keep Walking Boldly’.

The boots represent the resilience, courage, and bravery of the women who have walked before them and tell the stories of progress that got the game to where it is today.

The boots are designed by artisan shoemaker Matea Gluščević from Naarm/Melbourne and will be gifted by Nicole Livingstone, AFL general manager of women’s football, to rising stars GWS Giants player and Olympic gold medalist Chloe Dalton, Hawthorn’s Emily Bates, Brisbane Lions’ Ally Anderson, and Collingwood’s Ashleigh Brazill at a media event at RSEA Park in Melbourne.

The four female recipients represent the next generation of female AFLW players, and it is hoped that they one day pass the boots on as the game progresses.

The campaign is also supported by a film directed by Good Oil’s Renée Mao. It documents the stories of the women’s game and features sporting icons like Debbie Lee and Erin Phillips talking about their experience growing up playing a game that was never’meant for them’.

Shot on location in Sydney and Melbourne, the film campaign uses never-before-seen archival footage, tracing the history of women’s football in Australia. 

The integrated campaign, a reinvigoration of Johnnie Walker’s ‘Keep Walking’ philosophy, will run nationally across digital, social, OOH, and influencer channels, with PR led by Leo Burnett’s Publicis Groupe stablemate Herd MSL.

Jodi McLeod, marketing manager at Johnnie Walker, said, “Keep Walking has been an incredible rallying cry for progress for more than two decades now. Johnnie Walker is committed to continuing its support of the trailblazers who push for progress every day by partnering with those who took bold strides and those who will continue striding to push Australia forward. These boots are a homage to the 150 years that it took for a women’s footy competition to be established and a celebration of the eighth AFLW season.” 

Meanwhile, Rosie Stone and Stacey Karayannis, associate creative directors at Leo Burnett, also added, “When we look at the pages of sporting history, we seem only to acknowledge the giants of the game – the top scorers, the record-breakers, the superstars. What’s rarely recognised, though, is the incredible strength and decades of determination it takes to get women’s sport onto the field in the first place. With the AFLW still in its professional infancy and with so much progress to be made, we wanted to celebrate the wins we’ve had along the way and shine a light on the women who walked the game to where it is today.”

Singapore – Popular scotch whisky brand Johnnie Walker has recently launched the ‘Walk Beyond’ brand platform, which aims at spotlighting the progressive blend of creative cultures born from the streets of Southeast Asia.

Conceptualised alongside Virtue APAC, ‘Walk Beyond’ places Johnnie Walker’s legendary brand philosophy of ‘Keep Walking’ inside culture, giving it fresh meaning, cultural credibility and relevance to a new generation of changemakers in Asia.

The platform will include a content series featuring unexpected collaborations between established cultural icons and up-and-coming trailblazers across Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. This brings together different communities to create new genres and champion new narratives to enrich street culture across Southeast Asia.

To launch this brand platform, Johnnie Walker and Virtue partnered with three local ‘Walkers’, each of them a cultural icon in their own right – Yung Raja, a Singaporean breakthrough dubbed Southeast Asia’s next avant-garde bilingual hip-hop artist; James Reid, an actor turned musician, artist, manager and entrepreneur innovating and changing the game of Original Pilipino Music (OPM); and 16Typh, a Vietnamese rapper and songwriter who has put Vietnamese rap on the global map. 

Lyndon Govender, marketing director for Diageo Southeast Asia said, “The Johnnie Walker philosophy, ‘Keep Walking’ stands for positivity, progress and resilience. The ‘Walk Beyond’ collabs are a tangible demonstration of that sentiment; a simple, yet powerful idea that brings together different changemakers to champion collective progress, uniting these authentic voices to empower a new generation.”

Meanwhile, Chris Gurney, group creative director at Virtue APAC, commented “‘Walk Beyond’ empowers and celebrates the voices of an emerging generation of multi-hyphenate artists who are transforming the region’s streets into a dynamic and diverse cultural melting pot. The collaboration between established icons and up-and-coming trailblazers creates a new narrative for self-expression, authenticity and progress that we believe will inspire and shape the future of street culture in Southeast Asia.”

‘Walk Beyond’ will be featured on VICE Media, which managed talent, the collaborative output and production for the campaign. In addition to the digital amplification, on the ground activations in Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam will bring the ‘Walk Beyond’ content series to life for consumers to experience the Johnnie Walker’s ‘Keep Walking’ spirit, with updates to come. 

Singapore – Johnnie Walker has launched its first NFT collection created in collaboration with Virtue APAC’s Singapore hub, as part of a multi-experience campaign developed by Virtue APAC, the creative agency from VICE media.

All seven bottles from its rare Master of Flavour series valued at US $35,000 each, were sold in Ethereum cryptocurrency within three minutes, appealing to modern luxury consumers and crypto enthusiasts.

Johnnie Walker and creative agency Virtue powered by VICE worked in partnership with BlockBar.com, a direct to consumer NFT marketplace for luxury wines and spirits, to offer buyers the chance to own seven extremely rare, vaulted bottles of Blended Scotch Whisky paired with seven one-of-a-kind works of art.

Virtue managed overall strategic and creative conceptualisation for the Masters of Flavour campaign from its Singapore hub as well as developing a launch film and social assets.

Johnnie Walker Masters of Flavour is the third and final whisky in the Johnnie Walker Masters series of extremely rare Scotch, crafted from fleetingly rare whiskies, which are all aged for at least 48 years from four closed distilleries: Port Dundas, Brora, Glen Albyn and Glenury Royal. 

Each of the seven bottles unlock access to a coinciding and exclusive piece of digital artwork from Australian contemporary artist Kode Abdo, aka BossLogic. Known for his fancasts, he recently teamed up with footballer Lionel Messi to create a new series of artistic NFTs featuring the global sports icon. 

Extending the digital experience into the physical world, buyers can choose to keep the NFTs and redeem their purchase for an exclusive three-day trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Immersing themselves in the history of Johnnie Walker, the exclusive money-can’t-buy experience includes a guided tour of the lowlands home of Johnnie Walker, including the Diageo archive and private tastings of rare collectable whiskies from the Diageo collection.

Chris Gurney, group creative director at Virtue APAC, said, “Johnnie Walker Masters Of Flavour is the ultimate expression of mastery, so our approach was to bring the 48-year-old whiskey making and packaging process to life through the craft and materials of the world’s leading artisans.”

According to Gurney, they have worked together with Bosslogic to reflect the creative narrative in his NFT artwork and to enhance the overall film direction. They also brought in acclaimed sound designer Maurizio Argentieri, best known for working on international music film scores including The Island, Zoolander 2 and Bread and Tulips. 
Meanwhile, Lyndon Govender, marketing director, Southeast Asia, Diageo, commented in the collaboration, “At Johnnie Walker we are continuously pushing the boundaries of innovation and creativity. This drop symbolises the future of luxury whisky ownership and consumer experience and we are proud to have worked closely with the team at Virtue to navigate this new world and create a campaign we are truly proud of.”

Thailand – In line with Johnnie Walker’s recent ‘Keep Walking‘ campaign in 2021 that aims to inspire and help people to breathe life back into social spaces, the global whiskey brand has launched a new program called ‘The Walkers’, which aims to celebrate actions that drive positive impact for people in Thailand. 

The new program, which is developed in partnership with VICE’s creative agency Virtue, will be brought to life in the country through a series of locally relevant initiatives which bring communities together to support local venues and bars. Singer and actress Violette Wautier will be leading the agenda to revitalize local street culture and encourage Thais to taste the richer experience of local communities.

Julie Bramham, Johnnie Walker’s global brand director, shared that they wanted to explore how the latest chapter of the brand’s ‘Keep Walking’ campaign could support its partner communities across the world as people start socializing again.

“The Walkers program is a meaningful way to work with locally loved and valued voices to help reinvigorate social spaces like bars, clubs, and venues to help get the local culture back on its feet and moving again,” said Bramham. 

Meanwhile, Nate Woodhead, Virtue’s group creative director, noted that they wanted to create a campaign that honored those changemakers driving action at a time when the world felt powerless. 

“When we looked at the context of each of our key markets it was clear that reconnecting people through social and cultural experiences was the perfect starting point for The Walkers program,” said Woodhead.

Aside from Thailand, the program will also run on other key Johnnie Walker markets, including South Korea, India, Africa, and Brazil, as well as Mexico, and Colombia, among others.

The campaign follows US$100m of investment over the past 18 months from parent company Diageo to help pubs’ and bars’ post-pandemic recovery by supporting jobs and communities around the world through its ‘Raise the Bar’ program.

Hong Kong – A celebration of those who never settle on things as they are as well as being bold in making life decisions: this is the latest mantra for whiskey brand Johnnie Walker as they unveiled its latest global brand activity, featuring South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter CL.

Formerly a part of the K-pop group 2NE1, CL’s powerful personal story of overcoming prejudice to become a global sensation and the first Korean solo female artist to break into the Billboard Top 100 list is explored in the campaign. Despite 2NE1 officially disbanding last 2017, CL went on a solo career journey, where she is known for tracks such as “The Baddest Female” and “Lifted”.

Furthermore, the campaign also features Johnnie Walker Highballs; vibrant and versatile serves that challenge traditional whisky conventions, made to be enjoyed at home as well as in restaurants, bars and for all casual occasions spent with friends. With options including the Johnnie Lemon Highball, Johnnie Peach Highball and Johnnie Ginger Highball, there’s a wide variety of flavors to suit individual tastes. 

Speaking about her participation in the campaign, she stated, “I’ve always hoped that by forging new paths, breaking down cultural barriers and challenging stereotypes, I could inspire others to never feel constrained by their background or the status quo they see in the world around them. With their 200-year history of pushing boundaries all over the world, I’m really excited to tell this story with Johnnie Walker.”

With the CL partnership, Johnnie Walker also kicks off the ‘Walkers’ program where the brand is looking at creating a global collective of individuals who are living examples of the Keep Walking philosophy. These are individuals with unwavering passion, defiant optimism, restless curiosity and their perspective of the world inspires people to push boundaries and taste more out of life. 

The Johnnie Walker + CL campaign now aims to appeal to the nature of consumers, who look for brands that stand for something and resonate with their own values, beliefs, and taste. It seeks to inspire them through a range of disruptive content starting with digital videos and various online and offline channels.

Over the past two years, Johnnie Walker has been communicating with consumers, platforms like the Busan International Film Festival, and various music festivals. Last year, due to the pandemic, it successfully accomplished an array of projects to communicate with consumers, such as the ‘Online Johnnie Party’ with famous bartenders and hip-hop musicians, and the hip-hop competition TV show ‘SHOW ME THE MONEY 9’.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Malaysian branch of global alcohol beverage manufacturer Moët Hennessy Diageo has appointed Kingdom Digital as its digital agency to handle the Diageo portfolio, specifically Scotch whisky brand Johnnie Walker and its single malt Scotch whisky brand Singleton. The agency was appointed in September following a pitch in April.

Under the appointment, Kingdom Digital will be responsible for assisting both Johnnie Walker and Singleton brands in their content planning and creation, creative development, along with social media management and performance analysis. The agency said the appointment is for a period of four months, with a possibility of extension.

Rajesh Joshi, marketing director of Moët Hennessy Diageo Malaysia for Diageo brands, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Kingdom Digital. The agency has demonstrated a good understanding of our brands, digital strategy, and goals in driving our business forward through innovative ideas. We look forward to producing campaigns that resonate well with our brands’ audiences and deliver exciting work for the Malaysian market.”

Meanwhile, Kingdom Digital’s CEO Ryan Ong commented, “It’s an honor for us to work with such esteemed brands. Through this partnership, we are confident that we’ll be able to assist Johnnie Walker and Singleton in strengthening their brand awareness and expanding their reach through a more digital-first approach.”

One of the agency’s first campaigns for Johnnie Walker includes promoting its newly-launched limited-edition John Walker & Sons XR 21 – The Legacy Collection. The latest collection aims to celebrate the rich heritage and diversity of the Malaysian Chinese communities.

To support this, Kingdom Digital produced a short, animated video that centered on the intricate heritage of the Cantonese, Hakka, and Hokkien clans. The video was released early November on Johnnie Walker’s Facebook.

The second phase of the XR 21 Legacy Collection campaign, set to roll out in December, will be focusing on a few other Chinese communities. Aside from digital asset development and video production for the campaign, Kingdom Digital will also be leveraging on Johnnie Walker’s social media channels for further visibility