Bushmills Irish Whiskey Celebrates Being Pioneers of Smooth Single Malt

Purple Creative have recently created a new global campaign for Bushmills single malt Irish whiskey, the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery, from Northern Ireland.  

Based on research by Strive Insight, Purple first set about creating a set of tangible, opinion-changing reasons to choose Bushmills Irish single malt over its single malt competitors – to get established premium whiskey drinkers to explore and reconsider what they sip and why. 

This led to the disruptive campaign hero headline, ‘The pioneer of smooth single malt’, a line that combines two of the brand’s most credible reasons to believe. Bushmills is the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery, first licensed in 1608, making it a true category pioneer. And because Bushmills single malt is always triple distilled, unlike Scotch which is mostly double distilled, it is smoother and more accessible to new and established whiskey drinkers. 

“The campaign highlights the exceptional quality of Bushmills in a credible and distinctive way. Each of our multi award-winning single malts is completely unique and their shared history, craft and provenance on the tip of Northern Ireland really sets them apart. For this campaign, we wanted to show confidence in our brand’s credentials, grab people’s attention and inspire them to explore beyond their traditional choices and opinions.” said Donagh McHenry, Bushmills brand director. 

The campaign can be broken down into a series of fun, characterful hero films and a collection of specific static print executions that champion individual Bushmills single malt expressions. 

Eleven films were created in partnership with Fight Gravity, a London production company, for social and broadcast channels. Each heroed Alex Thomas, the Bushmills Master Blender, and Colum Egan, the Bushmills Master Distiller, along with other craftspeople from the distillery or Bushmills village.  

The creative challenge for Purple and Fight Gravity was to get the key messages and stories across in a warm, authentic and charming way, wrapped in the the unique character of the whiskeys and the craftspeople on the north coast of Ireland. 

“The campaign is all about bringing the best of Bushmills to life, so our primary aim was to capture the north coast personality at the heart of the brand and the people who make it. The scripts are playful and full of fun. The film direction was dynamic and energetic. The ‘actors’ were authentic. The whole set had a warm, family feel about it. The final films are charming without the conventional formality of whisky but they also have credible and serious quality messages at their core.” said Steve Bewick, creative director, Purple. 

“From drone shoots over the Giant’s Causeway to filming deep within distillery whiskey warehouses, this was a dream shoot, capturing a real sense of Northern Ireland provenance. For the films themselves, our director, Jacob Hopewell, got the best out of our craftspeople actors and used dynamic whip pan transitions to give the stories energy, pace and a fresher, more modern feel. We wanted a style that was less formal and static, something distinctly different from how a Scotch or Japanese whiskey film would be created.” said Paul Cheung, producer, Fight Gravity. 

For the print executions, Purple commissioned photographer Thomas Skovsende to evocatively capture the unique European locations where the different Bushmills finishing casks were from, including places like Madeira and the town of Marsala in Sicily. 

The Bushmills campaign is being rolled out all over the world from Q3 2024.