Johnnie Walker is making house calls.
The Scotch whisky brand is holding “An Evening with Johnnie Walker” events in homes in Toronto, Montreal (in both French and English), Vancouver and Calgary, which involve private tastings and quick courses in Scotch and its history. Tastings can be held for up to 15 people for free.
The “mentorship program” began on the heels of a series of consumer focus groups that were conducted in key markets across Canada, says Alistair Kidd, brand director of whisky, gin and Tequila at Diageo Canada.
Focus groups identified a few key insights including that consumers want to understand more about Scotch whisky and the difference between a blend and single malt and want to hear more about the brand’s origin and its creator, John Walker.
“By bringing this mentorship program to Canada, it gives us a great opportunity to tell our stories, the story of blends, and to get people interacting with the brand,” he says.
The program began as a pilot in Canada last fall and was based on a similar program that reached more than 250,000 people in Spain. About 500 events were held until June in the Canadian pilot, reaching about 7,500 people.
More than 1 million social media impressions were generated during the pilot from guests sharing images of their experience with the hashtag #JWathome. “We’re very pleased with the results,” Kidd says.
As a result, the program is officially open for business in Canada and is slated to run until at least next June, which marks the end of Diageo’s fiscal year
People can request a tasting at the Johnnie Walker website and will be contacted within 72 hours to arrange the details. On the evening of the tasting, a “Johnnie Walker Scotch Ambassador” arrives at their home.
The events include tastings of Johnnie Walker Red, Black and Blue varieties. Guests are told the John Walker story, how whiskies are created, and receive advice on service sizes and cocktail suggestions.
A responsible drinking message is also part of each event and participants must be of legal drinking age, adds Kidd, noting Diageo worked with regulators to bring the program to life.
“From our point of view, we were breaking new ground. The idea of actually going into people’s homes was a little bit different” than conducting consumer sampling in stores and bars, he says.
Plans call for about 600 events that will reach about 10,000 people. The goal is to generate up to 2 million impressions through shared content and the brand’s online channels.
Kidd says the events are helping to dispel misunderstandings about single malts and blended whisky and the perceived differences between the two. “There’s a desire for people to learn more. We’re seeing that across a lot of categories, not just Scotch whisky.”
Media relations, project management and host recruitment are being handled by A&C, while Vibrant is handling tasting execution and ambassador training. All creative assets were designed and developed by Strada, and Grip is managing the digital campaign.
