William Grant & Sons, parent company of Scotch whisky brand Glenfiddich, has worked with design agency Purple Creative to create virtual whisky distillery tour, The Glenfiddich Distillery Experience.
Filmed from the POV of a visitor to the brand’s Dufftown distillery in Scotland, the Glenfiddich Distillery Experience aims to enable ambassadors to take guests on a very personal tasting tour. Purple was tasked with creating a memorable, educational and engaging experience that was both enjoyable and would benefit from word-of-mouth, the experience also had to offer more than a standard tasting and emphasise the brand’s ‘pioneering spirit’.
Of the project, Coralie Vial, Glenfiddich brand manager, said: “The Glenfiddich Distillery Experience is the next best thing to putting our guests on a plane and flying them to Scotland.”
The distillery experience has been created in order for guests to be able to virtually visit from wherever they are in the world. An ambassador guides guests through the tour/tasting by way of an animated map, illustrated by Alex Wells, which includes 11 key locations each linked with a different single malt tasting. As locations are visited the animation turns to love action with guests able to follow various distillery craftsmen, including the malt master and head cooper.
Ambassadors will be able to personalise their tours to further show off their knowledge, the experience also allows for ambassadors to upload their own tasking photos, etc. to a separate area to make their tastings more flexible and bespoke.
Glenfiddich global brand ambassador, Ian Miller, commented: “The Glenfiddich Distillery Experience is without doubt the most valuable tool our ambassadors have ever had. It engages audiences, and provides an insight into our production processes that no verbal explanation could ever hope to achieve.”
Founder and creative director at Purple Creative, Gary Westlake, added: “The reward for us in creating a virtual distillery tour is that the people experiencing it don’t even notice the vast amount of back-end technology and design that went into it. Instead they are focused on the storytelling, the wonderful history, the experience of watching master craftsmen at work and then tasting the results. We give the ambassadors the keys to the distillery – and let them take their guests on a seamless journey.”