William Lawson’s – Referee Activation

The Brief: 

We were asked to develop a launch campaign for William Lawson’s blended scotch whisky in pubs, sports bars and liquor stores. The aim was to create awareness and drive trial amongst sports fans using sports-themed promos.

What We Did:

Keeping in mind the brand’s “No rules. Great Scotch” ethos, we based the main activation mechanic on a Russian best practice example that we dubbed the Referee Activation. How it worked: non-William Lawson’s drinkers received a penalty card from promoters dressed as William Lawson’s Referees blowing ref whistles.

They then received a complimentary tasting of William Lawson’s scotch whisky and were also handed a red card that they could exchange for a complimentary William Lawson’s at the bar. We also created a point of sale kit that included freestanding units, shelf strips, tasting tables and table talkers to drive awareness and sampling.