Blog Schedule

Schedule at 15.00.

New Blog

We have moved our Publicis-Dialog-Beam-Team blog to Notorious-Beam-Team.

Glenfiddich Barrel Art

Glenfiddich have commissioned design agency Johnson Banks to bring their use of barrels to life with a series of artworks.

From PSFK:

"The creative team decided to use the barrel as their muse, exploring it in its singular parts, as a way of depicting the distinctive characteristics of Glenfiddich’s five signature whiskies, aged 12 to 30 years. The end result of the project is a stunning display of industrial pieces that give weight to the passage of time. The image pictured at right illustrates “the angel’s share,” the amount of whisky that evaporates during distillation, the words “For 21 Years We Take a Share” cut into the wood. With so many alcohol companies spending top dollar on advertising campaigns promoting vacuous experiences, it’s a nice change to see a celebration of tradition and taste which is ultimately the thing being sold anyway."

Here's a snapshot of some of the pieces:











For more images and an interesting glimpse into the creative process visit the Flcikr set here.

And for debate about the pros and cons of this project visit the Creative Review blog which is generally in favour of the idea, but many of the commenters feel that the creative execution wasn't radical enough. Maybe they should have commissioned an artist rather than a design agency? That said, I think the work is very impressive. It is something we have thought about for a number of our whisky and cognac brands in the past. Getting people to talk about whisky isn't easy and this project seems to have achieved it.

Burger King launches meat-scented fragrance

Bonkers. But getting a fair bit of media coverage. And very true to form of Burger King to do something whacky that centres on their superior burgers. You can see this through recent work on Whopper Freakout, Whopper Bars and the recent Whopper Virgins campaign. This is from Brand Republic:

"Fast-food chain Burger King has launched a meat-scented cologne in the US for under $4 (£2.56) and has aptly called it "Flame".

The men's fragrance, which is being sold at a New York retailer and online, is being touted as "the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat".

Meat-loving consumers can buy a bottle of the scent for just $3.99.

Burger King has also launched a website called FireMeetsDesire.com to accompany the cologne.

The site reads: "The Whopper sandwich is America's favourite burger. Flame by BK captures the essence of that love and gives it to you."

Users are also greeted with the caption: "Now you can set the mood for whatever you're in the mood for."





Burger King released the fragrance earlier this week and an informal survey carried out by the Boston Herald revealed that some men would actually wear it."

Courvoisier The Future 500 Christmas Party

Courvoisier hosted a spectacular party for the Future 500 at The House of St. Barnabus on Greek Street. The Future 500 (F500) is a network created by Courvoisier, designed to support and promote Britain's most sparkling talent. The event last week celebrated the success of our members by showcasing some of the inspirational work that they have accomplished this year as well as creating a rich environment for networking and sharing ideas. Click here to watch the Brand Republic video. And for a round up of what the idea is all about click here for a previous post.



I was privileged to be invited and was genuinely overwhelmed by how enthusiastic the Members were. They all had nothing but praise for the idea and relished the chance to meet up with like minded entrepreneurs. One of the best things about the network is the Future Bank which offers members the chance to pitch, on a monthly basis, for £1,000 funding for fresh and inventive ideas...

Le Nez was also given its first public outing. We created a room dedicated to the layers of aromas and flavours found within Courvoisier XO Imperial. We have identified 3 key aromas for each of our 7 marques and have created them as perfumes as a way of demystifying Courvoisier cognac and helping people to understand the cognac experience in a refreshing way.

We created a darkened room styled to look like a perfumery with seating for 5 intimate guests. Rebecca explained the idea and then presented the 3 key aromas - for XO the aromas of creme brulee, candied orange and iris flowers. To enhance the experience of each aroma we have worked with an incredibly talented musician called Laurent Assoulen who is able to compose the sound of smells. We played this music whilst we diffused the key aromas.

There was a queue of people all night waiting to experience Le Nez de Courvoisier and the feedback was excellent. It's great to see such a positive reaction to this sensory experience.








Le Nez permeated the whole event, with cocktails designed to pair up with the aromas in Exclusif - A Gingerbread Courvoisier Exclusif cocktail played with the aroma of gingerbread that you find in this cognac.



And delicious creme brulees played with the aroma of creme brulee in XO.



The Courvoisier Future 500 is on a roll - we can't wait to see how it evolves.

5 Types of American Men

I spotted this on PSFK and thought it might be useful for some of Beam's whisky brands.

"At Future Trends 08, Spike TV presented research that they released earlier this year. The research has obviously been created to help sell advertising but for anyone out there who is making products, services or communications for men in America, it might provide some useful data points. Luckily, you readers don’t have to make it to Miami. Simply download the PDF here and a summary is on this page here."

Trusted Places Hornitos Event with Hornitos Cocktails

The legends over at Trusted Places put on a fantastic Day of the Dead party at Chilango off Fleet Street in London. To read more about it visit either watch the video below or click on this link to their blog.







Thanks to Walid, Sokratis and Niamh for organising such a great event. We can't wait to get involved again.