Ardbeg Islay Invaders

Service

Global Digital Activation

Industry

Food & Drinks

Situation

Ardbeg wanted to create excitement around the brand to celebrate work they had done with whisky experiments conducted in Space. These were scientific investigations to examine the effect of various types of oak on maturing whisky being placed together in zero gravity. By having a unique proposition, of Ardbeg product being examined on the International Space Station, naturally the brand team wanted to bring these experiments to life, back on Earth! 

Challenge

Wyoming was tasked with various digital activities to celebrate the return of Ardbeg product to Earth and to create various digital activations to engage a global audience and drive traffic to events and online tools and games. A retro arcade game for installation at whisky events was a key support tool which required months of planning and development.

The game, Islay Invaders, paid homage to Space Invaders but with a distinct Ardbeg edge. For events, a strong presence was required. The team sourced full-size arcade game cabinets with full wrap around branding. The game itself was written from the ground up to operate for tablet, mobile phone and most impactfully, for the self-running kiosks at travel retail installations within leading airports, such as Heathrow.

The game design picked up subtle visual cues from the distillery on Islay and design assets were created for multi-channel advertising and promotion, carrying the theme across online and traditional publication and advertising placements.

Solution

Everything from the game design, engineering and kiosk construction was done at a Wyoming site and then instructions and supplies were created for brand teams around the world.

Special activations were created for the Islay distillery to support the Fèis Ìle – The Islay Festival – a gathering of whisky fans from across the world, which takes place every May on Islay. In addition, a ‘test’ game system was placed in the corporate headquarters, officially for review and sign-off, prior to being placed in the field, however the game proved to be so popular with the brand teams that the cabinet never left the corporate office!

The game authenticity comes from being deliberately retro, calling to mind the design of eighties games but built using the latest technology to support multiple use cases, device formats and territory localisation.

The game experience took advantage of the individual device capabilities, so the mobile version utilised social connectivity and the full console version took advantage of powerful loudspeakers within the cabinets to create impact in busy event spaces.

If you’d like more information on how we could support you with event activation, from planning to installation, get in touch with us today.

About the client

From a home on Islay to whisky events around the world, the Ardbeg brand is known for interesting and creative event activations. Fans of Ardbeg openly adore the brand and make their positive engagement with the brand well-known at whisky events and through social media.

Service

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