2015 Gold Best Loyalty or CRM Programme
01 Dec 2015
Story UK
Ardbeg Single Malt Whisky
ARDBEG'S GONE SPACE AGED
The Team
Dave Mullen - Exec Creative Director, Rebecca McFarland - Creative Partner, Olivia Donaldson - Head of Copy, Olivia Gavan - Account Director, Rosie Torrie - Senior Account Manager, Lynsey Thomson - Account Manager, Carolyn Sanchez - Senior Brand Manager, Graham Robb - Studio Manager, Ian Healy - Digital Manager
Contributors
David Boni - Director/photographer, Th1ng - Production Company
Campaign Overview
Ardbeg has always pushed its marketing endeavours to the very limits – so why not push them out of this world by becoming the first distillery in space?
Ardbeg’s intergalactic adventure aboard the International Space Station (ISS) set out to raise brand awareness, keep its CRM programme close to its brand, launch limited edition bottles and encourage event attendance.
The campaign spawned global PR, emails won incredible open rates and hundreds attended exclusive worldwide events, with celebratory bottlings sold out in a matter of minutes and hours. Ardbeg continues to be the fastest growing malt in its sector.
Strategy
Collaborating with space research company NanoRacks LLC, Ardbeg took part in a space experiment to test the effect of zero gravity on maturation. Vials of molecules crafted by Ardbeg, a class of compounds called terpenes, were blasted into space on 30th October 2011 and placed in the ISS, where they orbited the planet for three years. The vials came safely back to earth in Kazakhstan in September 2014 and were rushed to a lab in Houston to unlock the mysteries of maturation.
Ardbeg used this historic event to captivate the Ardbeg Committee, its worldwide CRM programme - to make them proud of and loyal to the brand. The activity was also used to widen interest in Ardbeg and recruit new smoky malt whisky drinkers and bloggers to the brand.
A precious vial from the actual space experiment toured globally to launch limited edition bottlings. And a whitepaper released to reveal the maturation secrets of the universe.
Creativity
The Ardbeg Committee is the esprit de corps of 120,000 members in 163 countries, with every message written in Ardbeg’s unorthodox ‘Committee speak’ tone of voice.
The brand reached out with its ‘Ardbeg’s gone space aged’ film to announce the mission and launch the first of its limited edition bottlings. Bloggers received a capsule with a sample and a collectable necktag.
‘Watch this space’ emails drove people to ardbeg.com, kept them informed of progress, invited people to raise a glass as the ISS travelled over them and publicised events and bottlings throughout the mission. Fans could create and send an astro-nut e-card or play the Islay Invaders game to defend Argbeg’s distillery.
The global tour featured a special cabinet with a vial appearing to float in zero gravity, while limited edition Ardbeg Galileo and Ardbeg Supernova bottlings celebrated the brand’s one giant leap for the whisky industry.
Results
The most audacious adventure in Ardbeg’s history has had a huge impact on its brand, exceeding its awareness-building objectives.
The Ardbeg Committee grew by
38,000 members, their enjoyment of the campaign shown by rocketing email open rates.
Thousands of people attended the brand’s space-themed tour and tastings around the world.
Coverage incuded the BBC and CNN, most major UK newspaper titles and online at the BBC, Sky News, Forbes, Der Speigel, NY Times, Mashable, Figaro and Huffington Post.
Each part of the campaign drove traffic to ardbeg.com and its online shop. The Ardbeg Galileo limited edition bottling sold out within 48 hours while Ardbeg Supernova sold out instantly: under one hour in the UK and Germany and under 10 seconds in Sweden.
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