Present and past McLaren F1 drivers Jenson Button and Mika Hakkinen join Jude Law and a host of famous faces to front Johnnie Walker’s biggest global marketing campaign ever – ‘Joy’.
The whisky brand activates its F1 McLaren Honda partnership within its new campaign and Button is positioned as a Johnnie Walker ambassador who has ‘truly walked with joy’
Indeed, the campaign is built around those who have ‘found success because of their joyful outlook on life’ and Button (driving a classic old school Honda sportscar in a piece of McLaren Honda F1 in-ad product placement) features alongside professional athletes, artists, models, movies stars and musicians.
As well as current McLaren driver Button and previous McLaren star Mika Hakkinen, Jude Law appears in a star-studded ambassador line-up that ranges from Chinese actor Zhao Wei, musicians OK Go, Filipino climber Romi Garduce, Haas & Hahn and Montserrat Oliver, to electric motorbike record breaker Eva Hakansson, Emil Areng and Jim Beveridge.
The campaign has been developed in partnership with the brand’s global creative agency Anomaly.
The spot was written by Lars Jorgensen and Martin Ginsborg, directed by Max Malkin and produced by Jenn Pennington.
The music, Ca Plane Pour Moi, is by Plastic Bertrand.
Rolling out across 50 markets, the campaign is led by a flagship commercial called ‘Joy Will Take You Further’ – an evolution of its ‘Keep Walking’ concept.
In addition to the TV work, the campaign spans digital, print and POS and aims to reach 270 million consumers.
All executions carry the campaign tagline: ‘Joy Will Take You Further. Keep Walking.’
Former Formula One champions Button’s involvement in ‘Joy Will Take You Further’ was amplified at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ahead of the race, Button revealed that joy is the driving force behind his career success and announced he was one of the campaign’s key ambassadors.
‘Within my life as an F1 driver, there are certain things that give me great happiness – and having the opportunity to have fun off-track through fitness whilst enhancing my performance on race days is definitely one of these,’ said Button.
‘Throughout my career I have had to have joy to succeed,’ said Jenson Button. ‘Because I love this sport so much I feel that I’ve been able to enjoy the good times and when things have been harder I’ve been able to find a way out of the situation, be more positive and help the team move forward.’
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Button’s ambassador role as an advertising front man through his McLaren Honda F1 team membership follows last month’s similar appearance in the latest campaign by the F1 team’s auto partner Honda (see case study).
But the scale of the Johnnie Walker campaign is broader and wider.
Guy Escolme, global brand director said: ‘Johnnie Walker has always stood for progress. It’s been the story of our whisky since our founder John Walker started it all nearly 200 years ago. What two centuries of experience have taught us is that progress doesn’t have to be an endless uphill journey.
“We can enjoy the steps we take and the more happiness we find in them the more likely we are to achieve our goal.’
The idea of ‘happiness driving success’ and being a ‘catalyst for progress’ has echoes of Coca-Cola’s big marketing idea.
Links
Johnny Walker Official Site:
Johnny Walker Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/JohnnieWalker
Johnny Walker Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/JohnnieWalker_
Johnny Walker Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/JohnnieWalker
McLaren Honda F1:
http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/team/
Anomaly:
Jenson Button:
