THE WORK

Is it a whisky strategy if your Scotch ad swaps old guys and dreich skies for hard-grafting beavers? Maybe. But The Woodsman couldn’t be a chip off the clichéd old block if it wanted to attract fun-loving younger drinkers to its smooth-sipping blend.

Gravelly puppet Barry the Beaver does a lot of heavy lifting (and sawing) in this 30 second spot from Mr President, playfully smashing category stereotypes before raising a well earned glass with a nod and a clink. It’s a fresh vibe for consumers to get their teeth into. But when it comes to selling whisky by the double-scorched bourbon barrel-load, is Barry more bark than bite?

THE RESULTS

The Woodsman scored a stellar 4.8-Star Rating on System1’s Test Your Ad platform – placing it in the all-time top five spirit ads and the number one whisky ad in System1’s Premium database. And test success converts to commercial impact, with The Woodsman earning a place in the Top 10 blended whisky brands and adding an extra 15% onto its 20% growth goal.

Combining brilliant brand strategy with data insights and emotional impact, ‘Well Earned’ bears all the marks of a maverick brand with its eye on the commercial prize. And System1’s FaceTrace confirms Barry sparks surprise and joy in consumers – indicating the character’s positive potential for future leverage.

System 1 Data

With a 4.8 Star Rating and 1.41 Spike Rating, The Woodsman performs well – these scores indicate strong long-term market share growth and exceptional short-term sales potential. However, a modest fluency rating of 74 suggests there’s perhaps a little room for improvement on brand recognition.

4.8 
Strong STAR RATING:
SPIKE RATING: 
Low 1.41
FLUENCY RATING: 
Good 74
Read the report

MASTERCLASS

EP.01.

And now, for an acceptance speech that’s a bit more acceptable, we're here with Jaimie Anderson from Whyte & Mackay and Lillie Price from Mr. President to explain exactly how they created the work that worked.

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