How Johnnie Walker Urged Hungarians to Walk Away from Outdated Gender Norms
According to alcoholic beverage giant Diageo, 59.2% of Johnnie Walker drinkers in Eastern Europe are women. Coincidentally, Eastern European countries are some of the continent’s hotbeds for gender inequality, with many of the region’s EU members annually falling behind on the EU Gender Equality Index. Hungary in particular, ranks 26th out of 27 countries on the Index, failing to step up on critical issues such as abortion rights, female representation in government and domestic violence.
In line with Johnnie Walker’s long pursuit of collective progress and their ‘Keep Walking’ ethos, the whisky brand found the above data insights the perfect place to start their new campaign, ‘The Uncomfortable Unboxing’. Together with Diageo, they looked for a subject with enough cultural tension to deliver a bold statement that would celebrate the act of ‘moving forward’.
Collaborating with Hungary’s largest sportswear brand Dorko, agency Publicis and JW created a pair of trainers with excessively long labels detailing the limitations and gender inequalities that affect women in Hungary daily. As the perfect metaphor, the labels needed to be cut off to make the trainers ‘walkable’. The shoes were then sent to influencers for unboxing videos, unpacking the broader issue of misogyny and inequality in the region with the help of young creative voices. Additionally, 1000 pairs of the trainers were sold in Dorko stores with proceeds going to the Equator Foundation, a Hungarian organization dedicated to women’s rights.
Head of marketing, Whisky Portfolio at Diageo EE Yulia Tyan explains that the scotch spirit category has been long stereotyped. “Whisky has pretty set perceptions of who, when and how to drink it,” she says. Those are all limitations that the largest scotch brand in the world is eager to break. So, standing up for the limitations women face in the region was the perfect place to start an authentic discussion.
Here is what else Yulia, as well as Publicis Groupe Hungary’s associate creative director Adam Nagy and brand strategy director Eszter Domonkos had to say about the data behind and the creation of the campaign.
LBB> Why was it important to pursue this project at this time and what kind of data informed the decision to do so?
Yulia> Johnnie Walker stands for progress, and we were researching what it means for Eastern Europe. Gender narratives and the representation of women were something we spotted early on. While there are a lot of men role modeling progress in many areas such as business, art, culture, there aren’t many for women. Women whom we spoke with shared that they feel confined within the societal expectations about gender roles, and they admire those who walk their own path despite stereotypes and traditionally assigned roles.
The insights we gathered guided the campaign and it was one of the most resonant topics across both men and women.
LBB> How did you come up with the concept of the sneakers and especially, the connection between JW and Dorko?
Adam> The sneaker collab was rather straightforward with what Johnnie Walker stands for and what our platform is all about. It symbolizes everything effortlessly. But we didn’t want to do just another sneaker collaboration. We were looking for an unexpected way to deliver a message that could also resonate in mainstream culture. We really liked the idea of delivering a serious message through the format of ‘unboxing videos’. From day one, we were looking for a well-established local brand to partner with, one brave enough to join us in this venture. Dorko was the perfect fit.
Yulia> DRK is the right partner for several reasons. It is a leading local brand in Hungary, and we wanted to find a local partner. It shares similar values around equality. It appeals to the generation of those who really care about stepping up the diversity agenda in their countries and communities. Will we do more work together? Who knows what the future holds! We are certainly open to ideas.
LBB> Who designed the sneakers and what went into creating the lace, as well as the writing on it?
Adam> Like all agencies, Publicis also has its fair share of sneakerheads, so it was no question that we would design the sneaker in-house. We wanted to create something analog yet symbolic. Dorko’s scissor logo inspired the idea of a super long label that needed to be cut off to make the shoe 'walkable.' It also brought our message – “Tear up the limits!” – to life, symbolising the end of accepting the limitations women have to face and endure in the region. We made the label long, so we can list all the limitations and challenges we want to overcome.
LBB> Did it take a certain level of brand bravery to decide to create this in a country where the reaction might have been adverse? Why was it the right thing for you to do as a brand?
Yulia> We expected that there would be some people who have a different view, and we were okay with that. We walked into a topic that tends to divide people and it was one of the reasons why we felt strongly we had to act on it. As the largest scotch brand in the world, we want to lead the rejuvenation of the category. It is one of the most stereotyped spirits categories. Whisky has (pretty) set perceptions of who, when and how to drink it. A lot of limitations that we as a leading brand want to break. Sounds familiar? That is why we connected the dots between the brand, progress and the gender narrative that needs to change.
LBB> Do you believe that creative work on the topic can help the general discussion around women's rights in Hungary and other parts of Europe that might be falling behind? How do you believe brands can engage in this conversation in an authentic way that really brings results?
Yulia> I truly believe that it is a collective effort and creative work is definitely playing a role in driving the conversation and actions around gender narrative. In fact, I think we got such great results because we found a creative way to bring a sensitive issue to light. Unboxing by influencers was a way to ‘unpack’ the topic and cutting the strips of limitations is such a powerful metaphoric way to take a step and keep walking. We genuinely wanted to draw attention to the gender inequality in Hungary and there is a clear link with the Johnnie Walker brand purpose. This is key to making it meaningful and authentic.
LBB> What are some barriers to creating activational/political work in Eastern Europe and is it difficult to get clients on board for projects like this?
Adam> We didn’t want to be political, but we knew that the moment we raised our voice about a social issue, we would be pushed into the political arena. We were expecting some backlash from the very beginning, but maintaining our confidence in our message turned out to be a good strategy to prove that Johnnie Walker is serious about this agenda.
Eszter> Politics is very much intertwined with all aspects of culture and society in Eastern Europe – of course not to the same extent in every country – which can make almost any issue or activation idea a political one immediately. Brands usually go down one of two roads – they either stand up for something and not pay attention to any backlash or keep away from super political topics altogether. But to be honest, this was never a political issue for us, we never saw it that way, we wanted to stand up for a societal initiative that we think everyone can be on board with.
LBB> What was the data that sat at the core of the campaign and how was it collected? What kinds of insights did it provide?
Eszter> Diageo is a very culturally-driven client, so it was obvious to us all from the get go, that we will root the approach in CEE culture, rather than trying to push a generic brand narrative. We did a very extensive social listening about the female empowerment territory, to map out what it really means in this part of the world, what associations it evokes, how communities connect to it, or disconnect from it, so we can find the tension that would make whatever we do truly meaningful, but also ownable by the brand. The social listening was done in the whole region first as an algorithmic analysis of edited and user generated content which presented us with a huge pile of findings, which then we dove headfirst into to manually form the key takeaways.
The tension we felt strongest about was how female empowerment means something completely different here, than in Western countries, which is very much rooted in our history. In CEE culture, women have it harder, in any walks of life - less salary, less female leaders, less female role models, less representation, less appreciation. Women have internalised their constraints so much that they are actually holding themselves back, which in turn, holds collective progress back.
LBB> How did you decide which creators to contact and how did that process go for you? Were people up for it from the jump, or did it take some convincing?
Eszter> We knew that the idea would work best if we worked with neutral influencers with a big reach, and a big – ideally unisex – follower base and no political connections, or agenda. We definitely did not want to enter the political arena, that would have taken the focus away from the true strength of the idea, as Adam already said.
The first creators we worked with were paid and knew about the hoax and decided to partake regardless, before the unboxing itself, but the idea soon started living a life of its own, and many smaller influencers started requesting the box because they wanted to make a statement themselves.
LBB> Why was it important to target both men and women with the project?
Eszter> I think it goes without saying that female empowerment is not about pitting women and men against each other, it is about creating equality. And from a brand POV it was also important that JW, the iconic whisky brand – which, let’s face it, for a long time was a hyper masculine drink – is inviting women to the table, not asking men to give up their spot. We are championing collective progress; we need everyone to be able to chip in. By disregarding the female perspective, we take away a lot from our collective experience.
LBB> What has the audiences' reaction been like? Should we expect to see more from both of these brands in the space?
Eszter> We sure hope so, and to tell you the truth, we’re already working on the third act of the platform, ‘Footsteps of Progress’. While with Dorko, the relationship and the will to act remains, the upcoming act of the platform will shed light on the progress from a different perspective. We like to keep it fresh that way.
As for the reactions, they were overwhelmingly positive, but not without some mixed opinions, of course. At the end of the day this was always intended as a conversation starter, and we wanted people to have opinions about it, and the issue it sheds a light on.
Yulia> The campaign sparked conversation around the topic. It shows how relevant it is. Reaction was overwhelmingly positive particularly from women and younger audiences. All in all, we are pleased with how the campaign unfolded and I hope many people found inspiration in it.
