Nine Lives Canned Cocktails

The Challenge

Develop Johnnie Walker’s Highball Collection drinks strategy into canned highballs for the on-trade.

The Detail

After successfully launching the Johnnie Walker Highball Collection in 2019, our drinks experts looked for opportunities to further develop the existing drink strategy.

Trend leading bars are constantly searching for new technology and practises that will keep them at the cutting edge of drinks culture. With the growing popularity in RTDs and the focus of recruiting non-whisky drinkers into the category, canned cocktails felt like the natural progression.

Sweet&Chilli’s cocktail bar in London Bridge, Nine Lives, provided the ideal testing ground for us to trial the concept so we worked with the bar team to create a set of signature Johnnie Walker canned highballs.

With the new range complete we launched the pilot, testing the drinks over 3 months in a real world setting.We collected valuable data and insights on both the cocktails and canning machine equipment, including sales figures, consumer satisfaction and engagement, machine usability and performance, which we then used to build a toolkit enabling venues to take the concept into their own bars.

Impact

The RTD format created a new market opportunity for Johnnie Walker, with several other prominent bars following suit with their own canned highballs.

We supplied 10 canning machines and technical support across Europe, Central America and Asia. Offering each market the opportunity to help their customers diversify. Tapping into the take-away trend during times of closure, and upon reopening, serving bespoke, craft cocktails in a disruptive and innovative format.