Redefining a Legacy: Anomaly’s Creative Solution Proves Effective for Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker legacy stretches back to 1820 when the brand was founded. Since 1999 it has marched to the sound of its iconic slogan, ‘Keep Walking,’ which, when it was first introduced, helped the brand to revitalise its image with consumers and uplift sales amid a global spending decline in the whisky category. Fast forward to 2012 and the clarity of the messaging, like ice melting into the amber liquid, was starting to get watery. 

By 2022, after Diageo enlisted the services of Anomaly to breathe new life into the ‘Keep Walking’ messaging, Johnnie Walker’s sales surpassed 21 million nine-litre cases for the first time ever and reversed eight years of decline to deliver a profit ROI of €250 million globally. In 2024, the partnership won a Silver Multi-Region Effie Award in the Food & Beverage category. 

Ozlem Robiliard, Diageo’s vice president, notes that the ‘Keep Walking’ campaign “had an incredible start, but by 2012, it started losing its impact. The message became diluted as local markets moved away from its core meaning, and the creative started feeling outdated – too serious and heavy.”

Though whisky sales were thriving globally, competition was tough across key markets including US, Brazil, Chile, and Australia. It became clear that, according to Ozlen, “there was an exciting opportunity to reinvigorate the brand and reconnect with the energy driving the category’s growth.”

The progress that the brand touted then didn’t quite align culturally anymore: “Society's idea of ‘progress’ had evolved, but the campaign didn’t keep pace, making it feel disconnected, especially to younger audiences. People saw the brand as old-fashioned, and that hurt its relevance at a time when competitors were becoming more vibrant and approachable,” Ozlem explains. 

‘Keep Walking’ was getting interpreted through themes of “endurance and perseverance – sticking with it until you reach the top,” and that heavy focus on individualism was no longer resonant before newer, more collectively focused conceptions of progress that were starting to emerge at the time. Consumers “were looking for something more vibrant and exciting, but the campaign’s tone felt too serious and outdated.”

“The brand’s image also wasn’t helping – we were seen as catering to an older, traditional audience, which didn’t resonate with younger consumers who wanted a more dynamic and modern take on success. On top of that, the 'Keep Walking' message had lost its central role in the brand and was often treated as an add-on, which weakened its impact. These challenges showed us exactly where the opportunities were. We needed to refresh 'Keep Walking' to reflect the energy and optimism our audience was looking for—and we embraced that challenge head-on,” says Ozlem. 

“Johnnie Walker came to us with a brief that doesn’t come round very often: to redefine and reframe the brand worldwide – a total brand transformation. With a rich legacy and history, we knew we couldn’t simply start from scratch,” says Ant Harris, head of strategy at Anomaly. “Instead we had to honour its past to reimagine it for today’s world.”

Looking at the task at hand, Anomaly saw that a traditional advertising approach wasn’t going to be enough. The team was going to have to “fundamentally redefine how one of the world’s most iconic brands connects with people globally – how it shows up in the world across every touchpoint,” he adds. 

Ozlem says that the brief for Anomaly was simple yet ambitious: “We needed to address the brand’s challenges – declining growth, stiffer competition, and an outdated perception that wasn’t resonating with younger audiences. The heart of the challenge was about taking something iconic and giving it a fresh, modern edge.”

Of course, the team wasn’t going to start from scratch; they simply couldn’t. ‘Keep Walking’ wasn’t going anywhere but it needed a new relevance and a new aspirational image that connected to culture in an authentic way. The legacy at hand was on Ant’s mind: “We had a deep respect for the legacy of ‘Keep Walking.’ It’s one of the most iconic slogans in advertising history, so we understood the weight of the task.” He knew from the start that Anomaly would have to “honour its spirit of progress while making it feel more dynamic, inclusive, and relevant. It wasn’t about reinventing the wheel – it was about rediscovering the power of 'Keep Walking' and ensuring it could inspire a new generation with the same impact it had for decades.”

Anomaly looked to legacy fashion brands for a model of how to reinvent an iconic brand platform, “Our approach to the new creative was rooted in one key idea: disrupt or die,” says Ant. 

To start, Anomaly knew that “‘Keep Walking’ had tremendous equity, but it needed fresh energy and meaning to connect with today’s audience.” A lot had to be done to make consumers connect with it again. “We couldn’t just say it, we had to live and breathe it,” Ant explains. “With a 200-year-old history like Johnnie Walker, the brand was the epitome of progress. We wanted to bring to life this commitment to progress in everything we did; its restless energy to constantly reinvent was visualised from the bottle photography to the treatment of the Striding Man, everything was designed to reflect movement, energy, and optimism.”

Like in 1999, when ‘Keep Walking’ was first introduced to unify communication, time and market changes had caused fragmentation once again. That’s why “to create a truly effective approach we also had to address the brand’s fragmentation. We developed a global framework that allowed local markets to adapt the campaign while staying true to its core. This balance ensured relevance across diverse audiences while maintaining a consistent brand voice,” adds Ant. 

The new creative launched in Australia, Brazil, Chile, and the US – the markets Johnnie Walker was struggling in the most – redefining the sentiment behind ‘progress’ in a way that would feel specific to each market while nevertheless communicating the spirit and ethos of ‘Keep Walking’. Ant says: “What progress means can vary depending on cultural context, so we took an adaptable approach for local relevant storytelling that empowered local markets to develop activations and partnerships unique to their market.”

By keeping the 'Keep Walking' message adaptable but consistent, we ensured the campaign felt both globally unified and deeply personal to each audience. It’s this dual focus that allowed the campaign to resonate so effectively across such diverse markets.”

Why was a creative solution the right way to tackle Johnnie Walker’s impacted sales? Ant notes that the disconnect between audiences and the brand wasn’t due to lack of awareness, “It stemmed from an outdated perception of the brand and its message. Simply increasing ad spend wouldn’t have solved the core issue,” he attests. Breathing new life into the brand and modernising what it signified could only be done with bold creative ideas. “The creative solution allowed us to redefine ‘Keep Walking’ for a modern audience, turning it from a message about endurance into one of bold, vibrant progress,” he adds. 

Ozlem echoes Ant’s sentiments and the clear need that a creative solution would satisfy. “For a transformational change, we needed a transformational creative solution. This meant an entirely new and different creative approach to the one we had seen before. The disruption of Anomaly’s creative solution gave the brand the game changing, head snapping brand platform that could unite markets globally and be amplified through local partnerships and activations.It unleashed the brand’s iconic history with a fresh energy – this approach wasn’t just a refresh; it reignited the power of 'Keep Walking' and turned it back into an inspiring call to action.”

Winning a Silver Multi-Region Effie Award, while an undeniable privilege for Anomaly, is also a testament to the agency’s way of working: “It’s affirmation for how we like to work with all our clients – putting the focus on ideas that can drive effectiveness and growth, no matter what 'shape' they take. But for a brand as iconic as Johnnie Walker, it’s especially meaningful because 'Keep Walking' has such a rich legacy. Being part of reimagining that legacy and delivering real, measurable results is a career highlight for the whole team,” says Ant. 

The win “validates the hard work of everyone involved,” Ozlem says, adding “especially our partners at Anomaly, who helped bring this bold vision to life.” Working symbiotically was key to success, per Ant: “It’s also a huge credit to the collaborative partnership we’ve had with Johnnie Walker and our agency partners—together, we set out to create something truly meaningful, and this recognition shows we achieved that.

Reflecting on work, Ant adds that “What makes this campaign so special is how it brought new energy to an iconic idea, resonating with audiences across 40+ markets. We’re incredibly proud to have been part of this journey with Johnnie Walker and to see ‘Keep Walking’ thriving once again.”

“For Johnnie Walker, this award is more than just recognition,”  Ozlem concludes. “It’s proof that rather than starting from scratch, you can redefine a 25-year-old brand platform by returning to what originally made the brand iconic in the first place.”