Roe & Co Irish Whiskey
The launch of Roe & Co was a big deal for Diageo, one of the world’s largest drinks companies. Irish whiskey is on the cusp of another golden age and this iconic whiskey, whose original distillery closed its doors decades ago, plants Diageo firmly in the middle of that renaissance. A blend of single malt and grain whiskeys matured exclusively in bourbon casks, it has been distilled in the Guinness Power House, part of the famous St James’s Gate Brewery, since 2019.
The ask: To develop the brand visually from the initial concept, capturing the essence of its heritage, appeal and quality.
Our response: We worked alongside Diageo and several of their UK & Ireland-based design and advertising agencies, creating and refining the vision. We produced still images for outdoor billboard advertising and print to introduce the brand around the world. We created still images and video of the new distillery for a filmed tour, staff training videos to increase brand awareness, product shoots and much more.
The challenges: To deliver the needs of a world-famous global brand and adapt to tight client deadlines. The Power House distillery wasn’t open for the initial advertising campaign so we sourced the plant room of an old textile mill to replicate its atmosphere. The distillery opening itself was down to the wire, so we had an editor on location editing while we were still shooting and even organised teams to work night shifts to meet the deadline.
The result: We created all kinds of exciting, on brand content from advertising and PR stills of the distillery to experiential videos bringing the distillery tour to life, as well as still life shoots of cocktails and staff training videos. A really big ask, successfully delivered.
“Over the last 24 months, I have had the privilege to work with Christopher and the team across product, people and place with Roe & Co. Irish whiskey. His ability to engage and inspire people through still and moving visuals across multiple touch points of public engagement is no mean feat and the collaboration between North Harbour Productions and Roe & Co has proven to be incredibly rewarding.
In our disruptive pack, serves and industrial beauty in the new Urban Distillery Experience, the kaleidoscope of colour, texture and content has grabbed the attention of thousands of consumers who may not have engaged with the brand via traditional shots and techniques. Christopher is extremely resilient, flexible and creative in his open-minded approach to capturing inspirational content that actually moves people!
I would love to thank North Harbour for their collaboration, creativity and tenacity to building a new future as we reinvent Irish whiskey. They have played a huge role in celebrating a reinvented brand world and storytelling graphics which have made us part of new conversations in modern Irish culture, bars and digital engagement across the world.”