Suntory Global Spirits has recruited actor Willem Dafoe to front the latest offering from single malt brand Laphroaig’s current worldwide marketing activation.
Eleven months after unveiling its ‘Unphorgettable’ platform, Islay-based Laphraoig is getting a fresh airing, led by a short film featuring Dafoe. ‘The Taste’ (below), directed by established music video director Tim Pope, will be followed by a global marketing campaign and a limited-edition iteration of the peat-led scotch whisky.
While details of the future marketing assets were not disclosed, a “limited-edition product collaboration” will be unveiled next year.
According to data provider ShelfTrak, the single malt segment of the scotch whisky category is wrestling with over-assortment, SKU proliferation and inefficient space allocation in the global travel retail channel. “While channel operators continue to stock extensive whiskey/whisky ranges,” said Shelftrak’s Garry Stasiulevicuis earlier this year, “there is growing evidence that an overly complex category structure may be diluting impact and reducing the effectiveness of core brand messaging.”
