Irish Distillers produce the largest portfolio of Irish whiskeys in the world Including the world’s best-selling Irish whiskey, Jameson. They have over 200 years of history in whiskey production and everything they do is driven by a desire to see the continued growth of Irish whiskey on the world stage. The category driven by Irish Distillers has undergone a renaissance in recent years, experiencing decades of double-digit growth.
Conversely, this renaissance has led to a huge growth in the number of additional distilleries In Ireland and the battle for share of voice has intensified significantly. New entrants have taken aim at Irish Distillers ownership and challenged the narrative around its positive contribution to the industry.
Irish Distillers needed us to help with the reinforcement of their category leadership position. We needed to get the story of Irish whiskey out there in a way that would be authentic to the brand, respectful of Irish heritage and enjoyable for whiskey-lovers from around the world.
There’s an Irish tradition that’s almost as ancient as Ireland itself...the art of storytelling. Traditional Irish storytellers kept track of important information and relayed it to others in the form of stories, which were then passed down through generations. But how do we take a ‘traditional’ approach to storytelling today, without villages and campfires…and with our target audiences spread all over the world? Where do people go to hear stories now?
THE SOLUTION
We decided to launch an on-going podcast series, including commentary from local whiskey experts and historians, to tell the story of Irish whiskey throughout history, for the global whiskey community.
The series would live on all major Podcast channels and would take a long-form, traditional approach to storytelling with 20-minute episodes evoking images and experiences of the past whilst looking to the impact of these events on the future.
This would be the first activation of this kind, with no one from the category having created something like this before.
STRATEGY & EXECUTION
The demographics of our target audience – whiskey lovers from around the world –has shifted significantly over the years with younger drinkers and female drinkers joining the whiskey family. The media consumption habits have also changed with a rise in demand for good quality long form content that can be consumed on the go as well as a need for attention grabbing short form content which makes the Initial connection.
A Podcast series supported by snappy social creative fitted perfectly into this environment. The podcast series would create a virtual village of listeners – a meeting place where whiskey lovers from around the world could come together and listen to the stories on a regular basis. It would allow us to tell the story of Irish whiskey to a wide audience and promote the reputation of Irish Distillers as an authority on Irish whiskey, and the revered storyteller for the category.
‘The Story of Irish Whiskey’ is now a regular podcast feature on all major Podcast platforms (Apple, Google, Spotify etc.), with new episodes initially rolled out over a 6-week period and more planned for the coming months.
The podcast was launched at a special event in a new Irish Distillers venue in the heart of Dublin. The event featured a conversation with some of the main contributors and was attended by Influencers, media and friends of Irish Distillers.
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BUSINESS OUTCOME
The results of the campaign and podcast series delivered on client objectives and surpassed expectations. The creative solve allowed us to reach a wide audience who were engaged in an authentic social way, helping us to promote the reputation of Irish Distillers and position them as the leading voice in a crowded space.
- The Podcast has already received over 20,000 listens
- It featured at Number 3 In the Apple Podcast charts for Ireland during the month of launch
- The supporting PR and advertising campaign reached over 1M on social and delivered over 2M opportunities to see, with coverage across national and international media outlets
- The social campaign received over 200,000 engagements
- The campaign was featured in renowned trade publication The Spirits Business, who highlighted it as one of the top global drink’s campaigns in the month of May
- The appetite for the series was so impressive that Irish Distillers are now working on Season 2