Story and Ardbeg are having a Eureka moment!

Today sees the release of Ardbeg Eureka! – the latest Committee-only limited edition whisky from Ardbeg – with campaign strategy, packaging and launch creative by Story.

To celebrate 25 years of the worldwide, world famous Ardbeg Committee, Ardbeg Distillery wanted to create a whisky that was ‘Designed by Committee’ – rewarding their loyal fans by making them feel truly involved in the brand.
 
Our plans got underway back in 2023, when we invited a select group of Committee Members to attend a top secret whisky tasting called Operation Smokescreen. The results of that experiment led to the creation of this one-off whisky, which encapsulated the ultimate Committee flavour profile. A bottling called Ardbeg Eureka!
 
For the launch campaign, we dialled up the humour and storytelling the Committee has always loved. Centre stage, a series of films with a quirky retro sci-fi vibe, designed to entertain, entice and reward the brand’s insanely committed following. 

The campaign was rolled out across social channels and e-CRM to reach the Committee as well as target smoky whisky fans who would have to become a Committee Member to buy a bottle.

Olivia Donaldson, Creative Director at Story, said: “It was the Story team that gave birth to the Ardbeg Committee back in the year 2000, and we’ve been nurturing and growing it ever since. So it was huge fun to come up with a way to involve the Committee directly in the inception of this whisky, and then build the hype around its launch in a way that would stoke conversation, desire and demand.” 

RESULTS UPDATE:

The teaser campaign launched early February, with the whisky released on 27 February. Before the day was out, Ardbeg Eureka! had sold out in Korea (10 mins), Japan (30 mins), Sweden (60 mins), Australia (60 mins), Germany (4 hours) and the UK (4 hours), with the Distillery online shop not far behind.