Johnnie Walker and its 'Keep Walking' tag with its association with progress is particularly applicable to China, a country that has become synonymous with progress and opportunity. To build on the brand's popularity in the region, Johnnie Walker wanted to build a platform that would cement the 'Keep Walking' branding with the concept of progress in a nation that is changing quickly.
More importantly within the brand needed to find greater affinity with the younger more fickle generation of Chinese drinkers - the post 80's generation. JW's biggest competitor in the region is Chivas, a brand with significant volume, history and equity. This meant any JW activity also had to set the brand apart in a significant way from Chivas and other international spirit brand competitors.
Chivas marketing tended towards the use of cliché, stylised and unrealistic imagery of galloping horses and luxury yachts. To counteract this, Johnnie Walker decided to tell the authentic stories of real Chinese trailblazers and their real life stories of modern Chinese progress.
There is a momentum and a passion amongst the 'post 80's' generation in China to build their own sense of purpose and progress. This generation see things differently from their parents, often creating a tangible tension within families.
Perceptions of success
Until relatively recently, success in China was linked solely on wealth, but over the last five years the younger generation began to judge other areas of one's lifestyle as measures of success: Travel, spiritual balance, charity support, exploring sustainability, creativity and the arts. This change in mindset was coined in the phrase "from riches to enrichment".
The communication strategy was to present real stories of enrichment in modern China. People with the 'progressive' spirit were identified and given a platform to speak about what progress, ambition and success meant to them.
This brief became "Yu Lu" - or a journey of words. They then commissioned China's famous documentary maker, Jia Jang Khe to work with six directorial protégés to create 11 documentary stories in multiple formats which would then be compiled into a feature length film.
To drive dialogue, JW enlisted China's prominent blogger Han Han to talk about the project. He drove high levels of conversation and then got Jia Jang Khe involved in the debate. Almost 100 of China's influential bloggers were involved in sharing the Yu Lu films. The project was then launched at a film festival, online and offline, which drove views and shares of the newly launched content. A television commercial was aired (featuring one of the documentary subjects Pan Shi Yi tell his story of success) and a carefully planned digital schedule drove more content shares. A well executed PR plan saw Jia Jang Khe and some of his subjects appear on China's prominent chat show and in various press titles. The film was screened at three Chinese Film Festivals in its full feature length format.
Results
The online video content received 30,000,000 views.
Johnnie Walker wanted to be the most talked about whisky brand in China, which it achieved. It also became the most talked about alcohol brand. It also demonstrated an improved intent to purchase amongst those exposed to the film content - index 187 - P3M (past 3 months.)