IAKI develops a project of unconventional marketing for the launch of the new reference of Ardbeg: the mysterious Corryvreckan. A product with a multi-faceted identity that becomes the object of an equally complex integrated campaign. Through a strategy that integrates online and offline, the right audience is recruited for the launch in an exclusive event.
Sandro Marchetti, CEO of IAKI explains this strategic decision.

What’s the value of an unconventional integrated project in the launch of a new product?

Corryvreckan is the latest product of Ardbeg, an Islay distillery that has an articulated history and an ancient culture. It is not easy to communicate this complexity through a single channel: the risk is to be arrogant. Since Ardbeg is the enfant terrible of whiskey, we could not limit ourselves to a social event. Different channels of communication have allowed us to choose the appropriate settings on storytelling: speaking of Islay and unravel the legend of the product, without overloading people with too much information.

Why on social media?

We followed an innovative direction for the  alcohol segment, the only one that would allow us to develop a level of engagement for the product. A whiskey like Corryvreckan not only needs to express itself on a multi-channel (like Facebook), but also to give space to people. With the availability of a rich history of emotional content, we sought a framework that could record and put in the foreground responses, appreciation and involvement of the people we met.

Why a fan page on Facebook?

It makes sense to open a fan page only for products that are truly capable of being loved by the people who choose them and Ardbeg brings with it a tremendous experience. For instance, when Moet Hennessy reactivated the original Ardbeg distillery, a special committee composed of all the fans was formed, to watch over the tradition of the product. In our case, we used the fan page as a meeting place, but also as a channel where to publish the Celtic legend behind the myth of Corryvreckan through cartoons and posts. We tried to enrich the experience of those who discover Ardbeg for the first time, making them discover a part of this strange world made up of Scottish distilleries and Vikings princes.

Why guerrilla?

Through guerrilla we have reached people who might fall in love with such a whiskey as Corryvreckan, in places where they could meet it for the first time. In a way it was like going to a blind date, we have tried to impress. We have developed an animation that was intended to amuse, taking care to give people a performance that would be worthy of the product, as evidenced by the enthusiasm which gave rise to the Prince fanpage photos and videos of the guerrilla.