William Grant & Sons is running a major travel retail campaign this summer to support one of the drinks industry’s great recent growth stories: Monkey Shoulder blended malt whisky. Throughout June and July disruptive activations are taking place at airports including London Gatwick and Heathrow, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, New York JFK (as reported), Colombo and others.
The company has extended that campaign to include high-profile related branding on travel retail’s most popular information website, The Moodie Davitt Report.com. The tailored branding runs on our home page this week, bringing the campaign to life for readers.
The activation follows a stellar performance for the brand year to date. As of May 2018, retail sales (depletions) are up +38% versus the same period last year. In 2017 the brand sold over 300,000 9-litre cases worldwide, 60,000 in travel retail.
Launched in 2005, blended malt whisky Monkey Shoulder filled a gap in the whisky category for a “fun-yet-premium brand that resonated with both consumers and bartenders alike”, claimed William Grant & Sons. “Master Blender Brian Kinsman set out to create a whisky with all of the great credentials of a malt, as well as the versatility and mixability to put it front and centre of a cocktail revolution.” Kinsman blends small batches of three different single malts together and then marries them for consistency. Monkey Shoulder won a gold medal consecutively for four years (2014 – 2017) in the International Spirits Challenge.
In global travel retail, the company is now investing in large-scale activations across the world for Monkey Shoulder, as noted above. With a strong focus on cocktails, the brand owner is “heroing” two signature drinks that are easy to make; the ‘OMG’ Ginger Monkey (Monkey/ginger ale/ice/wedge of orange) and the Lazy Old Fashioned (Monkey/sugar syrup/angostura bitters/ice/twist of orange).
The global travel retail campaign is called #makeitmonkey and features a distinctive cement mixer stocking unit (linked to mixing) and a new interactive ‘dinky disco’. This machine plays light-hearted films which educate about how serves can be recreated at home, and passengers can play music on the interactive decks. The bright orange cement mixer stocking units aim to catch the eye in store and reinforce the message that Monkey Shoulder is malt whisky ‘made for mixing’.
Promotors hand out postcards featuring the OMG serve, drawing in travellers to give them a taste, often from large gorilla bottles. The serve is also highlighted on the large graphic backdrop behind the tasting areas. GWP items include carry boxes and tote bags.
“Monkey Shoulder is one of the recent success stories within the spirits industry and was voted the ‘top trending Scotch’ by The World’s Best 50 Bars, as voted by bartenders, in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018,” says William Grant & Sons Head of Marketing GTR Ifan Jenkins.“A great achievement that reflects all the hard work put in by the WGS domestic on-trade teams. The brand fills a gap in the whisky category for a fun-yet-premium brand that has resonated with both consumers and bartenders alike.
“In GTR, we are now investing in large-scale activations across the world to engage with passengers and give them a chance to trial the hero serves. Given the ever increasing numbers of travellers, we are able to deliver huge reach for the brand using amazing and entertaining theatre. Monkey Shoulder has already proved itself a star performer in GTR and, as of May 2018 our retail sales (depletions) are +38% versus the previous year, which itself was a record year. Many thanks to all our retail partners who have been part of the campaign.”
