- World’s number one Scotch Whisky Brand blazes a trail by transforming its Timeline cover photo into an ever-evolving Instagram gallery
- Three of world’s foremost Instagrammers invited to launch JOHNNIE WALKER’S Instagram account - and curate the brand’s Facebook Timeline cover photo covering four brand stories in four weeks
- Timeline cover photo crowd sourced among the brand’s 4 million Facebook fans worldwide and Instagram followers
JOHNNIE WALKER, the world’s best-selling whisky brand, is launching a new application on its global Facebook page this September which is set to give Instagram photos hidden in people’s pockets an audience of millions.
In a world-first, which completely reimagines how brands can interact with consumers on the world’s biggest social network, the pioneering whisky brand will unveil the very first ‘Interactive Timeline’ which allows fans to contribute their Instagram images to the cover photo, showcasing them to over four million fans.
Four weeks, four stories, three influential Instagrammers
To launch the app, JOHNNIE WALKER has tapped into the ever growing number of photographers finding fame on Instagram and beyond with their eye for artful images. It has commissioned the foremost amongst them to take over the JOHNNIE WALKER Instagram feed and co-curate its Facebook Timeline cover photo.
Over four weeks, the three curators will be taken on four different inspirational brand related journeys, and given full creative licence for one week, with exclusive ‘behind-the-scenes’ glimpses into the world of this iconic whisky to inspire their images.
Curators include:
- Chris Ozer, @chrisozer, with over 150,000 followers, was one of the early adopters of Instagram, joining after seeing it used by the founders of Twitter. He will showcase the heritage behind the brand by capturing exclusive shots of the JOHNNIE WALKER distillery and Scotland’s breath-taking landscape.
- Phil Gonzalez, @philgonzalez, is the founder of Instagram community INSTAGRAMERS and has an artful eye for images that he shares with over 129,000 followers. Gonzalez will be given unprecedented access to the glamorous world of F1 through the brand’s sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.
- Athipan Wongsuebyut, @awnoom, with over 170,000 followers, is one of the most inspirational and influential Instagrammers in Asia, and was recently profiled on the official Instagram blog. Wongsuebyut will journey to Shanghai, one of the brand’s most vibrant markets, to begin his personal whisky journey and capture the launch of a new luxury product.
Following this, JOHNNIE WALKER fans will be invited to capture Instagram images inspired by JOHNNIE WALKER and the brand’s progressive spirit. The most striking pictures will then be streamed to the JOHNNIE WALKER Facebook cover photo from late September to form part of an ever-changing gallery of images which allows fans to virtually ‘walk’ with the brand through time.
Gavin Pike, Global Brand Director at JOHNNIE WALKER, said the app was the latest innovation from the brand driving new levels of engagement:
“Our global Facebook page is a place to share and be inspired so we are always looking for ways to immerse and include our fans in the JOHNNIE WALKER brand, rather than broadcasting our story. The new app allows us to do that in a simple, visual way by unleashing the creativity of our Facebook and Instagram communities to create a stream of images which represent the progress we stand for. Having seen some of the incredible JOHNNIE WALKER images already on Instagram and knowing how passionate our fans are, we are excited to see what they will come up with”.
The app was conceived and developed by Bartle Bogle Hegarty in London and the launch campaign was devised by Edelman London under the direction of JOHNNIE WALKER Global Marketing Manager Alain Dibo.
The app launches on www.facebook.com/JohnnieWalker from Monday 3 September 2012 and fans will be able to see their images on the page from late September.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Fiona Suttie
Phone: +44 (0)20 3047 2478
fiona.suttie@edelman.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
How the App works:
The innovative app connects the photo-sharing network Instagram to the JOHNNIE WALKER Facebook page, allowing people to submit an infinite number of Instagram images, with a dedicated hashtag and aggregating the photographs submitted to create a new cover photo for the Facebook Page every few seconds.
Each time a Facebook user refreshes their browser, a new selection of Instagram images which capture the Walker spirit of progress will appear, creating a continuously changing cover photo for the page. View video demo here: https://edelman.box.com/JWInteractiveFacebookCover
About JOHNNIE WALKER
JOHNNIE WALKER is the world’s number one Scotch Whisky brand, enjoyed by people in almost 200 countries around the world. Since the time of its founder, John Walker, it has been closely associated with the concept of personal progress. A combination of consumer insight, determination and commercial astuteness enabled three pioneering generations of Walker men to grow the small grocery store founded in 1820 into an international whisky business selling stylish, authentic, iconic brands. The JOHNNIE WALKER word, the Striding Figure device and associated logos are trademarks © John Walker & Sons 2012.
About Diageo
Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business. With its global vision, and local marketing focus, Diageo brings to consumers an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across the spirits, wine and beer categories including Smirnoff™ Vodka, Guinness™ Beer, JOHNNIE WALKER® Scotch Whisky, Baileys™ Irish Cream Liqueur, J&B™ Scotch Whisky, Cuervo™ Tequila, Captain Morgan™ Rum and Tanqueray™ Gin, and Beaulieu Vineyard™ and Sterling Vineyards™ wines. Diageo trades in some 180 countries around the world and is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com.
