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By Gillian West, Social media manager

November 28, 2013 | 2 min read

Scotch whisky brand Ballantine’s has unveiled a new online film featuring freestyle skater Kilian Martin reinterpreting Bizet’s classic Spanish-set opera ‘Carmen’.

Developed for Ballantine’s by M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and digital agency Work Club, the film extends Ballantine’s recently launched ‘Stay True, Leave an Impression’ global brand positioning for PR and digital.

“Kilian is not only hugely talented and amazing to watch when he’s on his board, but his is a truly inspirational story that really demonstrates what it is to Stay True,” explained Peter Moore, global brand director for Ballantine’s.

“He’s full of conviction and belief in his own ability, but at the same time he’s humble and isn’t doing what he does out of any sense of vanity. Whilst we’re not all going to ever be able to skate like Kilian, what he has achieved by staying true to himself and to his own unique style is truly inspirational.”

Martin remarked: “I’m a strong believer that you should stay true to yourself and where you’ve come from, so combining all of my life’s passions into this film and paying tribute to Carmen, has been so rewarding.”

The film sees Martin arriving at a grand theatre where, during rehearsals, his story unfolds. The dramatic finale sees Martin take to the stage performing ‘Toreador Song’ from Bizet’s Carmen fusing all of his experiences in life that he has stayed true to with the goal of inspiring the audience to ‘Stay True’ themselves.

Of the campaign, Dave Roberts, deputy managing director of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, said: “Kilian is the very embodiment of what Ballantine’s mean by Stay True. With this inspiring production, we’ve managed to celebrate a genuinely unique talent in a wholly unique and unexpected way.”

Work Club creative director, Joe Corcoran, added: “There are thousands of great skateboarding films uploaded to the web every day; none of them are like Kilian's. We hope it will inspire others to always stay true to themselves.”

The film has launched exclusively with global trend site HypeBeast, and will be promoted throughout key markets.

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