Jack Daniel’s wants to drive home authenticity message as it turns focus to Old No 7
Jack Daniel’s is hoping that a campaign focused on its Old No 7 whiskey variant will drive home the brand’s authenticity and history among spirit-drinking consumers.
The US drinks company kicked off its first multi-platform, global brand campaign for the variant in the UK market yesterday (9 November) as it looks to strike a balance between lifestyle activations and brand history communications.
Comprising of television, print, social, OOH and digital videos, the ‘Whiskey Making’ push, created by Arnold Worldwide, includes global ad ‘Hands’ and a UK-centric spot titled ‘Old Fashioned’, both of which show men at work in Jack Daniel’s Tennessee distillery.
Speaking to The Drum Jack Daniel’s global brand director, Philip Epps said that the campaign aims to “reinforce the specialness of Jack” across the globe.
“One thing that we’ve said to all our markets is that we need to get the right balance of telling all our authentic stories and yet at the same time still doing what we call Drinkers World activity, such as the music activity in the UK [Jack Rocks]. We still want to do that lifestyle stuff but it’s really important that we couple it with our authentic stories and remind consumers that we are a well-crafted brand, we are made in one town in the US and we still make the brand in the same way that we have always done.”
Digital is a bigger focus in Jack Daniel’s marketing mix than ever before and Epps said that it has “gone to town” on social,
specifically creating bespoke content for these channels such as cinemagraphs, which are still images over-layed with movement. For example one cinemagraph features two men sat outside the distillery with flames flickering in the back ground through the window.
Whiskey making takes waiting, and waiting takes stories. Lots of 'em. #borntomakewhiskey https://t.co/H2mu1qjsze
— Jack Daniel's (@JackDaniels_US) November 3, 2015
“As more and more brands are on social media we know that short video works well and we know that strong copy works well but sometimes consumers don’t want to sit through a video so it’s a nice balance in between,” explained Epps. “We are still doing the still photography with great copy and we are still doing the video but these just felt like a really nice complement.”
Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the Jack Daniel’s distillery being registered (it was registered in 1866) and the brand will lean heavily into digital to tell more of its long history as well as ramping up partnerships across its markets such as with Spotify in the UK and Thrill List in the US.