Tag: alcohol

Johnny Walker brand story

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The high ground for any brand is the story. It’s what we should be aiming for. A brand where part of what people buy is the is the history, or to be part of a tribe. Johnny Walker has put together a great new campaign where they tell their story. It’s a 6 minute time investment worth taking.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnSIp76CvUI]

Some things worth thinking about with the Johnny walker story:

  • It’s a long copy format. 6 minutes plus. Something which can’t be done on TV.
  • It circumvents the negative connotations with success and globalisation. The personal effort and history makes financial success more palatable.
  • It gives detail about the product, range and brand that just wouldn’t be possible in shorter media formats
  • It’s sharable. Easy to send to friends, worth talking about.
  • It’s eyeball worthy. Well shot and executed.
  • It’s the idea. Ideas are king again, not media. Any brand with a story, and a small level of film / web expertise could have done it.
  • This is clearly Radvertising

What does this mean for startups? It means that a large part of what we talk about should not only be how we got here, but why we are taking this journey. A story they can live vicariously through.

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Beer is the new wine

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I recently had some beers and a meal at a place called Little Creatures dinning hall in Melbourne Australia.

For the uninitiated, Little Creatures is a craft beer which has it’s origins in Australia and has recently opened a flagship ‘dinning hall’ – seen below.

little-creatures-dinning-hall

They’ve simply taken this to a new level. I’m not taking about the fact that they have weird and groovy beer flavours, all naturally brewed. I’m talking about the way they take you on a personal journey with their service.

My favourtie was the beer education programme. They have a ‘pony show’ – I don’t think it’s called that, but it is what I’ll call it for this post.

You get a taste in little groovy pony glasses of all their different beers, then choose one you like. One of their ‘Little Creatures Beer Experts’ comes and sits down on your table with you and they explain all the different types of beers. A real sit down for 10 minutes. A rare treat when the usual sitiation is waiting 10 minutes for crappy service in bars and restuarants. They teach you how to taste each beer and the slight nuances of each. They even provide an idea what type of people generally like the different types.

pony-show

It’s really nice and fun. I even heard the word “sessionable” to describe a beer – They invent some nice jargon to make you feel part of a tribe. Cool.

No need to advertise this little venture. We’ll do that for them….

And this is what cool startups are doing in retail.