An unsuspecting U.S. blogger realised this week that her family were depicted in a retail advert in the Czech Republic of all places! A family friend was travelling in Prague when he spotted some familiar faces grinning out of a poster advertising a grocery store’s home delivery service.
We’ve just got the results of a tracking study for a Whiskey Brand we have been working with in European markets. It makes very satisfying reading.
Three years ago McCanns got together with C&C after a pitch for one of their portfolio spirit brands. It was a singularly interesting project. The brand in question was number 3 in its category in the global market in 2005 and C&C wanted to make its move – charging the C&C marketing team and McCann with the rather onerous task of bringing a brand of doubtless possibility but very limited awareness to the success levels of its main competitors.
Its competitors are huge global brands – Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Jameson – with budgets matching these huge reputations. Simply put; it was a David v Goliath project. On top of that, any communications had to work in markets as diverse as Latvia, Bulgaria, Sweden and South Africa. If that were not challenging enough, each market has widely differing rules as to how we could advertise.
We aired the first campaign across Europe in the Autumn of 2006.
If you’re having any problems with the end line it means “Rough Country – Smooth Whiskey.” It was the start of something of a phenomenon. When McCanns and C&C’s senior international brand managers met just over a year after our launch commercial, the brand was something of a new superstar. Irlande…douze points…Irland…12 Points; Írsko…12 Bodov; Irlandia…Dwanaście Punktów; Irland…Tolv Punkterna.
We aired the follow-up commercial in Autumn 2008.
As a result of a simple, uncomplicated but thoroughly worked out creative strategy, Tullamore Dew has become the fastest growing whiskey – Irish, Scotch, Bourbon, any whiskey – in the world. After just 12 months total sales were up 19% versus market growth rate of 6% - the charts were and remain off the scale. Absolute credit where credit is deserved, Ann O’Leary who heads the C&C Tullamore Dew team, picked an AIM award and IAPI Adfx award in the campaign’s first year.
An unsuspecting U.S. blogger realised this week that her family were depicted in a retail advert in the Czech Republic of all places! A family friend was travelling in Prague when he spotted some familiar faces grinning out of a poster advertising a grocery store’s home delivery service.
