Bruichladdich subverts whiskey stereotypes with ‘Not Your Classic’ campaign

New York and Glasgow-based agency Thirst has collaborated with B-Corp-certified Bruichladdich Distillery on its latest campaign, 'Not Your Classic', following a successful redesign project in 2023.

The partnership between the design studio and brewery has been ongoing for around four years, during which Thirst has worked on its brand strategy, visual identity, and packaging. This is now the second through-the-line campaign that the team has worked on with Bruichladdich.

"Working with Bruichladdich is always very fulfilling," says Thirst executive creative director Matt Burns. "They're a super progressive whisky brand that gives you absolute license to be creatively disruptive - there is never a dull brief from them."

Although the brand is immediately recognisable as a category disrupter with its bold-coloured bottles, its progressive nature is more than just skin deep. Bruichladdich exists to be thought-provoking and stimulate conversation, and, according to Burns, "they're not your classic whisky brand".

He explains how the campaign was designed to "capture the hearts and minds of modern whisky drinkers globally by showcasing the irreverent side of Bruichladdich's personality and turn up in a way your classic whisky brand wouldn't dare to".

Since Bruichladdich Distillery is values-led and the first Scotch whisky and gin distillery in Europe to be B Corp certified, Thirst sought to target consumers seeking brands that stand for something more, going beyond the product they produce. This created a challenge, says Burns, because Bruichladdich "didn't want to be seen or heard of as being worthy, but rather irreverent", so the strategy involved sharing the brand's values in a manner that was inviting and less serious.

Speaking on challenges with this project, Burns says: "Humour is always a delicate one, and we weren't aiming for a LOL-funny, but instead, a thought-provoking smile.

"The tone and clarity of the 'humour' within the photography were super important, and this is what Justin Bettman absolutely nailed. From casting to set design to the final product – it couldn't have been a better match."

According to Burns, the design team had Justin in mind from the beginning, as his "innate style and staged cinematic approach" was exactly the direction they wanted to take. He describes how it allowed them to "pull focus" onto the hero characters, giving the campaign "an elevated look and feel, whilst theatrical compositions dialled up the wit and irreverence".

As you can imagine, Scotch whisky brands can often take a pretty serious tone with tales of provenance, lochs, and stags, all typical signifiers of status in the category. But Bruichladdich is anything but typical.

The Thirst team asked themselves, 'When was the last time a Scotch whisky brand made us smile in the whisky aisle?' and realised that it hadn't happened before. To rectify this, they built the Not So Classic campaign to highlight the progressive values behind the Bruichladdich brand in a fun, inviting, and irreverent way.

The campaign's positioning centres around three "irreverent heroes," each developed to tell a unique and compelling story. Burns explains, "Our bold characters are Not Your Classic bunch; they communicate that Bruichladdich is for unique people who take pride in being true individuals and doing things their own way and convey Not Your Classic attitude, outlook and thinking."

In the Not Your Classic Attitude campaign story, the message is that Bruichladdich's whisky is as unique as those who drink it. The hero character here is eccentric and oozes natural charisma and can be seen reclining while drinking from a pineapple, challenging preconceived scenes of stuffy whisky lounges.

For the Not Your Classic Outlook element, Thirst wanted to convey that age doesn't define Bruichladdich's spirit. Burns says: "Here our hero character - a lady in her 80s - is going against the norm with her unconventional attitude and confident energy, defying convention by enjoying a night out at a roller disco and portraying a youthful, irreverent outlook."

Finally, there is a character built around the idea of Not Your Classic Thinking. In her scene, she confidently makes herself at home in a public library.

"The casting here plays on subverting the cliche that women don't drink neat whisky and, at the same time, she is displaying a thirst for knowledge, tapping into our role for the brand as progressive thinkers," says Burns.