Developing New Whisky Product Concepts for J&B

The Challenge

J&B is positioned globally as the ultimate party whisky and is Europe's No.1 Scotch whisky. In China, however, the major whisky brands are Johnnie Walker Black Label and Chivas Regal. J&B asked ?What If! to develop several new product concepts to help J&B really hook in Chinese fun-loving whisky drinkers to the brand.

The Process

A joint ?What If! and Diageo team became intimately acquainted with the lives and aspirations of male Chinese twentysomethings by visiting them in their homes and following them out at night, meeting their girlfriends, and hanging out with them and their buddies. Back in the office, the team combined personal observations of fun-seeking behavior with an in-depth interrogation of the rules in the whisky category to create a set of guidelines for generating concepts we then shared and built with consumers.

The Solution

The team developed attention-grabbing new packaging and product concepts based on a number of insights, including:

1) Chinese fun-loving whisky drinkers need to be noticed but avoid purposefully seeking attention;
2) Chinese fun-loving whisky drinkers don't put taste as key criterion but "having a great time" is;
3) Chinese fun-loving whisky drinkers love unexpected and unplanned fun.

The Results

Combining the consumer insights the team uncovered and J&B's existing party whisky proposition led to five innovative new product concepts that not only really energized the entire team, but also elicited enthusiastic responses from senior clients not directly involved in the project.

"By working with ?What If!, our project was injected with fresh thinking and an objective perspective. I've worked in the Diageo Innovation Great Britain Team for several years, but most of the Diageo China team members were relatively new to innovation and creative thinking processes. ?What If! was fantastic at guiding this team through the innovation maze to crack a tough challenge in a short period of time. Lastly, but most important to me, is that the ?What If! team is enjoyable to work with - the relationship is very collaborative but they also challenge us, the client, to really think and improve our ideas." Lavinia Tong, Innovation Manager, Diageo China

"We moved a long way in a short space of time by working closely together -- ?What If!ers and clients working as one team - and keeping our focus on the goal. We used consumer understanding that we'd already generated together to help us appreciate the bigger context for young people in China today. Then we brought our challenge to life by meeting our target consumers in the flesh -- not just in Shanghai but out in second-tier cities too. And we used a Realness expert to challenge and push us on packaging and design from the first moment of having ideas to make sure we delivered concepts where the designs and the product ideas were integrated." Liz Evenden, ?What If!