How a new brand character challenged Whisky conventions to help The Woodsman double market share

Today I'm speaking with Whyte and Mackay Marketing Director Janice McIntosh and Mr President (their agency) CCO Jon Gledstone about the launch of their new campaign for The Woodsman brand. The "Well Earned" campaign score a whopping 4.8 stars on the System1 test and saw the launch of a brand character, Barry the Beaver, in a move that defies convention in the traditional Whisky category. From internal battles to hurdles presented by the regulators, both Whyte and Mackay and Mr President had to overcome some barriers to bring this campaign to life.

Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
01:01 - Inventing The Woodsman
01:42 - Creating a brand dominated by big players
04:00 - Standing out in a product dominated category
05:46 - Balancing demand and supply
06:31 - Availablity of the brand
07:11 - Overcoming perception barriers
09:15 - Coming up with the “Well Earned” positioning
13:06 - How to sell in breaking convention
16:00 - How the agency helped sell the idea
18:29 - Creating a new character
20:02 - Characters vs Celebrities
21:07 - Using humour in a traditional category
23:23 - Creating a physical barry the beaver
24:18 - The importance of craft in the ad
26:07 - Staying on the right side of regulations
28:23 - A good client agency relationship
30:09 - How important is testing and data to back up creative decisions
31:53 - The importance of mental and physical availability
33:32 - The results
35:01 - What’s next for the brand?