Marketing Star Award 2014 Strategic Category 1.4 International Marketing

Ardbog Day – After all, the whole world digs Ardbeg.

Let me tell you a little story….

At Ardbeg, we’re a humble lot. Here on the small Scottish Island of Islay we’re proud to produce The Ultimate Islay Single Malt Whisky and we love people coming to the Distillery, to feel the true spirit of Ardbeg. Nothing (in our opinion) beats the sight of the pagoda roofs crowning the white-washed walls before you, the sound of the waves surging on the rocks behind you and the smell of malt and sea spray all around you. People drop in to see us throughout the year but it’s the first Saturday of June every year where we fling open the doors and welcome those whisky fanatics that come to the mecca of Islay for the annual whisky festival. Maybe we’re biased, but Ardbeg’s Day has always been the highlight and over the years has started to gain more attention, more coverage and has sent social media all a twitter. It was our loyal, international Ardbeg Committee members (who form our CRM programme in over 150 countries) who started to get a little rambunctious ‘We feel left out, we need an Ardbeg Day in Germany / Sweden / Australia...!’. The requests came from far and wide. Now, we love every single one of our 100,000 esteemed Committee members and we want them to feel that no matter where they are in the world, a dram of Ardbeg will always make them feel a part of Islay. Ardbeg Day goes global.

So in 2012 we took Ardbeg Day to the world with the Islay-limpics. It was a hoot and we had Ardbeggians sheep tossing and bog snorkelling across the globe. Before we knew it 2013 had crept upon us. ‘What are the plans for Ardbeg Day this year?’ the Committee cried! We needed a strong theme, making it even more memorable than the previous year. We set ourselves some objectives. Learning from our friends worldwide on the 2012 event, the theme had to translate well (we use words here on the Island that not even those from the mainland understand), work in any event space – from the smallest bar to an international arena, attract not only our loyal Committee but their friends too and try to achieve lots of what the marketers call PR. And the brilliant news, we had a limited edition bottling to sell! Our whisky is so delectable that it’s always in high demand, so we set ourselves a challenge – achieve sell out in record time. So we had a wee dram and got thinking…

With great eagerness we tried some of this special bottling. We savoured the complex balance of flavours – sea salt, fudge, coffee grounds, leather with the classic finish of Ardbeg sweetness. As we sat the tasting stirred up the spirits of the past. Islay is a treasure trove of natural and man-made history. Cut 3 foot into the peat bogs Islay is famous for and you’ll have dug 1000 years into the past. Many riches have been unearthed throughout the years – a bronze sword (the cutting edge of warfare fashion 3000 years ago), the skull and cross bones of whisky smugglers and pirates as well as the fossilised monster footprint found near Airigh Nam Beist*. Did I tell you we love a good old yarn on Islay? Ardbogology! That was it, a peaty take on the craft of archaeology. The theme was strong and would be easily understood by our international markets.

We then needed a name for the bottling as deep and mysterious as the liquid within it. We decided upon Ardbog, a name that worked on so many levels beautifully telling the story of what lurks beneath the peat bogs of Islay and a clever twist on Ardbeg. It was bound to get people talking.

* A hillside place near the distillery whose name means ‘Shelter of the Beast’. Time to let people know what was going on…

Being in the whisky business we’re quite a methodical lot. We laid out a plan to ensure that everyone knew about the event and we got those cyber tongues wagging along the way. Firstly, we concentrated on those that had to be ‘in the know’: - Our Ardbeg Committee and their smoky malt whisky drinking friends worldwide. - Our International Embassies (there are over 100 throughout the world where Ardbeggians can seek Islay sanctuary, usually located in specialist whisky shops and bars that have been approved by the Desk of the Drambassador). - The Press and Bloggers: they seem to like being kept up to date.

And how we would reach them. DISTILLERY

COMMITTEE ONLINE SOCIAL ARDBOLOGICAL WEB PAGES POS KIT EMAILS GAMING DIG We love a letter.

The date was set and we know that diaries fill up quickly, so we sent out a ‘Save the Date’ to our Committee.

They were champing at the bit, 47.85% open rate!

We like to keep in touch so over the next couple of months we sent out regular emails, just so everyone knew as much as we did at the Distillery. Event theme email – check, where to attend events in your market (and bring a pal!) – check, all about the bottling and where to purchase – check, check. Every email achieved consistently high open rates and click through. People were obviously keen to hear our news and all the details they could about the upcoming events. 42.32% 44.08% 38.11% 42.03% 41.23% Invitations from all over the world.

32 emails were sent directly from the markets using an email template we provided, ensuring consistent communications no matter where you were in the world. The day a Professor came to the Distillery.

One of the emails shared footage from a dig we had at the Distillery with the Department of Ardbogology. It was a long, meticulous excavation that unearthed many treasures from the past including a Viking helmet, T-Rex skull and the most precious of all, a giant bottle of Ardbog.

Over 20,000 tuned in, I think that’s more people than watch .

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10G8Anb0qk Now for the World Wide Web.

So the Committee knew when the event was on, where to attend, what was happening and how to get their hands on this ever so special bottling. Ardbeg.com – that was next. We love the Committee but we’re a friendly lot and are always open to welcoming people into the fold. So we put all our event information on the website, like a fancy pin board you could say. The markets wanted their own pages as well, so we developed CMS templates for them allowing them to put up their own details (I’m not that fluent in Taiwanese).

Reporters need to plan big news days so we sent them this press kit that contained a wee nip of Ardbog and some precious coins we discovered behind Warehouse 3. The press kit detailed a link to the website so they could have a good old nosey around. It certainly whet their appetites. Party Packs and Hunting Online Treasure.

We then made up these nice wee POS kits so it didn’t matter where you were in the world, everyone felt like they were having the same fun as we were having at the Distillery. Packed up at Port Ellen post office, off they went across the world.

No one ever sits still at the Distillery and there was a week or two to go until the big day so we made a fun game to play on the computer. The Treasure Hunt had a very simple mechanic, helping Shortie (our mascot) discover Ardbeg treasures including miniatures, T-shirts and our precious coins. Committee members were sent all the information they needed to play for their chance to win, or share the experience with a friend. They could even tell all of their virtual friends on social media if they wanted to. Taiwan Over 100 parties, just one Ardbog.

The big day finally arrived! Photos were faxed to me from our friends who kicked off the celebrations in New Zealand, Australia, across Asia, Europe… finally it was the Distillery’s time to shine! Through the gates Paris they came. The courtyard filled with a hum of international languages; a group that had sailed from the Caribbean, cyclists who made Ardbeg the final stop on their tour of Scotland. Oh and Big Barry from down Sydney the road, but he’s always here.

An orderly line was forming at the door to the visitor’s centre, everyone wanted their bottle of Ardbog. I watched as the line got longer and longer and then the constant flow of fans with their prized possession. It was time to have fun, the games were in full swing and people were wearing their T-shirts with pride. A giant treasure hunt, a boat trip to the neighbouring deserted island of Texa (there’s still dinosaurs Islay inhabiting the island to this day) and an Arbogological tour of the area surrounding the Distillery. What a fantastic day, ending with a good old hooley. New York The event baton went onto our Embassies in America and Canada – the spirit of Ardbeg spreading across the world. Berlin

Well, what a turn out…

The next morning we did our sums. We had all enjoyed Ardbog Day immensely, but of course we would, it was our event. What about all the Embassies? We hoped with all our planning and attention to detail that they felt they were able to create their own Islay Time. Before we looked at the real world, what about the digital one. Big numbers indeed: Visits: 25,804 in total – 22% up on 2012 Unique Visitors: 18,610 – 34% up on 2012 Page views: 149,306 Pages / Visit: 7.08 Avg. Visit Duration: 00:04.05 52.20% New Visitors And the actual events? Over 10,000 people attended 115 Ardbog Day events worldwide! Well they say a picture says a thousand words – picture after picture of Committee members and their new smoky malt whisky friends having a great time at the events. The Embassies came back with praise – a clear theme that everyone really enjoyed and the party kits ensured that everyone was having the same unique Ardbeggian experience.

ASIA USA EUROPE ISLAY Sometimes you just have to let go…

Finally, that delicious bottling. All gone! Sold out online in less than 48 hours, faster than ever before! There was such anticipation after the rave reviews from the bloggers and press, not to mention their stories regaling the events they had attended. If only I had kept a bottle for those chilly Islay nights.