Successfully marketing whisky to women is something that needs to be carefully navigated. If you\u2019re too targeted, you can end up looking patronising, but if you\u2019re too subtle in your approach then are you effecting any positive change? \u201cWhisky is facing a lot of legacy issues. Society has changed and the industry has been slow to keep up. Men were always the low-hanging fruit, and the perception that whisky was a man\u2019s drink made it easy for brands to aim their adverts at them. After decades of male-dominated and focused advertising, when whisky brands try to appeal to women it can be jarring, not least to the women who are already happily drinking whisky,\u201d says Irish journalist Bill Linnane<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Jane Walker, progressive or patronising?<\/p><\/div>\n In 2018 Diageo caused a storm in a tumbler when it announced that it had turned Johnnie Walker\u2019s<\/a> iconic striding man into a woman for <\/span>a \u2018Jane Walker\u2019 Black Label limited edition<\/span><\/a> in a bid to attract more female fans. At the time Johnnie Walker\u2019s vice president, Stephanie Jacoby, told Bloomberg that \u201cScotch as a category is seen as intimidating by women\u201d, and that the Jane Walker launch would \u201cinvite women into the brand\u201d. While well-intentioned, the campaign was criticised from all sides. \u201cI find those attempts at addressing gender imbalances really toe-curling. They end up making the brand look a bit foolish; any enlightened brand isn\u2019t going about it in that way anymore,\u201d says <\/span>FT<\/span><\/i><\/a> drinks columnist Alice Lascelles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Spirits expert and former Master of Malt editor\u00a0Kristiane Sherry<\/a> feels the campaign showed \u201csome ambition for change\u201d, but creating a whisky squarely for women implies that the other expressions in the Johnnie Walker<\/a> range are somehow off limits. \u201cFeaturing Jane rather than Johnnie on a bottle gives women some visibility, but it treats them as one homogenous group. And producing a bottle \u2018for\u2019 women is exclusionary \u2013 who are the \u2018Johnnie\u2019 bottles for?\u201d Sherry questions. \u201cIt\u2019s important to avoid grouping women together \u2013 that\u2019s when it becomes tokenistic and the messaging misses the mark.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Johnnie Walker\u2019s global brand director, Julie Bramham, stands by the campaign. \u201cThe Jane Walker campaign was about celebrating the many achievements of women. It was a showcase of pioneering women and great whisky. We\u2019re proud to celebrate this and hope to support people on the journey towards gender equality. We believe the campaign was successful at bringing attention to gender inequality and tackling that issue,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last year Emma Walker<\/a> became the first female master blender in Johnnie Walker\u2019s 200-year history. Bramham believes we\u2019ve moved \u201cwell beyond\u201d the idea that whisky is seen as intimidating to women. \u201cAs the biggest Scotch brand in the world, we want to recruit the next generation of whisky drinkers \u2013 whoever that might be. Male, female or however people wish to identify, if you like great flavour then you\u2019ll appreciate great Scotch,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anna Paquin next to an enormous pink piano<\/p><\/div>\n In April, The Glenlivet took a more provocative approach with its <\/span>female-focused ad campaign<\/span><\/a> starring Anna Paquin, who seeks to encourage more women whisky drinkers into the fold by smashing stereotypes. “Whisky doesn’t care what’s between your legs, so why should we be told to follow these rules?” Paquin says, while suggestively crossing her legs like Sharon Stone in <\/span>Basic Instinct<\/span><\/i>. However, advertising industry veteran Steve Harrison, author of <\/span>Can\u2019t Sell Won\u2019t Sell<\/span><\/i><\/a>, feels the advert is patronising to its target audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe ad is simply the filmed version of the two mood boards presented by the agency depicting where the brand is at the moment and where the client wants it to be,\u201d he says. \u201cWhy can\u2019t women be involved in the whisky conversation and spoken to as knowledgeable, discerning consumers rather than talked down to like children who are unable to understand and appreciate a whisky\u2019s finer qualities? It\u2019s patronising assuming that you can\u2019t appeal to women on the basis of their discernment.\u201d Sherry is equally unimpressed with The Glenlivet\u2019s efforts to open up the category. \u201cWhisky marketers have a long way to go if they think this is an effective way of marketing to anyone, let alone women who are routinely objectified and judged for their bodies,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The key to attracting a wider female demographic to whisky lies in treating women as equals to men, rather than trying to syphon them off into a subgroup. \u201c<\/span>Over the years, I’ve observed\u00a0just about every distillery\u00a0attempt\u00a0to create packaging, sweeter flavours and marketing slogans to target women and fail miserably, because\u00a0they didn’t respect their palates. Women crave complicated flavours far more than a marketing ploy,\u201d says Fred Minnick, author of <\/span>Whiskey Women<\/span><\/i><\/a>, citing Maker\u2019s Mark bourbon<\/a> as being way ahead of the curve in bringing women into the whiskey conversation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are rewards to be reaped for brands that successfully engage with women in an authentic and unpatronising way. \u201cFor the most part female whisky drinkers represent significant untapped potential,\u201d points out OurWhisky<\/a> founder Becky Paskin. \u201cTo change the narrative brands need to include women in marketing campaigns, either on their own or alongside men. Depict female drinkers enjoying a range of serves, both neat and in cocktails, and highlight the women actually making the whisky. Forget marketing gimmicks, sweet whisky and pink labels \u2013 <\/span>visibility<\/span><\/i> is the key to unlocking a female audience,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Glenmorangie’s 2020 advertising campaign<\/p><\/div>\n Having long been associated with middle-aged, tweed-clad men, such seismic change won\u2019t come overnight. \u201cWhisky was pedalled for so long as a \u2018man\u2019s drink\u2019, so reversing that messaging and breaking down those stereotypes is going to take time,\u201d says Melita Kiely, editor of <\/span>The Spirits Business<\/span><\/i><\/a> magazine. \u201cThe issue doesn\u2019t lie with women being uninterested in whisky, it\u2019s in the marketing and messaging that has excluded them.\u201d Kiely cites Glenmorangie\u2019s <\/span>colourful 2020 campaign<\/span><\/a> created in partnership with fashion photographer Miles Aldridge and agency DDB Paris as \u201ca welcome shake-up of traditional whisky marketing\u201d, with its bold visuals and focus on flavour.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lascelles feels more women might be tempted to try whisky if the packaging was more appealing, the glassware more glamorous and whisky bars were more welcoming places. \u201cWhat I\u2019m longing to see is more contemporary, imaginative packaging, and more whisky bars embracing buildings flooded with natural light and getting away from fireplaces and tweed,\u201d she says. There\u2019s also huge untapped potential in creating an occasion around the Highball. \u201cThe ritual around <\/span>the Highball serve<\/span><\/a>, which is exquisite in its simplicity, can be a beautiful collective experience that offers a fresh take on whisky,\u201d she says, name-checking organic Highlands distillery <\/span>Nc\u2019Nean<\/span><\/a>, run by Annabel Thomas, as a single malt brand that\u2019s helping to introduce whisky to a wider audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For Thomas, the best way to reach a broader audience is to see that diversity reflected within your own company. \u201cI don\u2019t think whisky should be marketed<\/span> to<\/span><\/i> women. It should be marketed in an inclusive, diverse way to a whole range of adults. Don\u2019t concentrate on Father\u2019s Day but leave out Mother\u2019s Day, don\u2019t only partner with male-focused brands, and don\u2019t assume that your consumers want to drink your product neat,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Louise Higgins, Bacardi\u2019s VP of marketing for Western Europe, agrees that whisky brands should be inclusive in their advertising approach, honing in on consumer behaviours rather than going down a gender-specific route. \u201cWhisky is for everyone and the way we market this wonderful spirit should reflect that. Marketing today is so much more sophisticated than it used to be. We can reach the target consumer according to occasion and mindset,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Annabel Thomas from Nc’Nean<\/p><\/div>\n Old habits die hard, and it will take the whisky industry a while to adjust its marketing messages to be more reflective of its increasingly diverse legion of fans. In order to meaningfully engage with its growing base of female drinkers, visibility is key \u2013 women need to be authentically represented rather than lazily stereotyped. It\u2019s a problem that needs to be addressed, and solved, from within, which is becoming easier as more women take the top jobs at distilleries and on the boards of drinks giants and advertising agencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Representation, from the boardroom to the billboard to the bar, helps, but there\u2019s still a long way to go, as Sherry points out: \u201cFor brands to recruit more women drinkers, they need to go way beyond advertising. This is about challenging bias in recruitment, adopting progressive policies and championing inclusion beyond the gender binary.\u201d Rather than releasing a rose-scented whisky in pink packaging, brands need to treat women as discerning equals and include them in the conversation. \u201cFundamentally, women are interested in the same things that men are interested in \u2013 the quality of the product, how it\u2019s made and the ethos of the company,\u201d says Thomas. The whisky category doesn\u2019t need to be dumbed down, it needs to be opened up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s one of the hot topics in the drinks world, how to sell what has traditionally been perceived as a man\u2019s drink to women. Lucy Shaw talks to some experts…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":44625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[893],"tags":[95,1974,895],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Jane](\"https:\/\/www.masterofmalt.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/jane-walker-1024x768.jpg\")
Becoming Jane\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\n
Stand by your campaign<\/strong><\/h5>\n
![\"Anna](\"https:\/\/www.masterofmalt.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/The-Glenlivet-Anna-Paquin.png\")
Paquin a punch\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\n
Equal playing field<\/b><\/h5>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.masterofmalt.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Glenmorangie-new-campaign-2020-2021-1024x655.png\")
Smashing stereotypes\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\n
All-inclusive\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\n
![\"Annabel](\"https:\/\/www.masterofmalt.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/IMG_2379-1024x683.jpg\")
How to sell whisky to women<\/h5>\n