Jennifer English, Global Brand Director, Johnnie Walker at Diageo, on why consistency and inclusivity is key to commercial and creative success.
“Creativity, choice, calm and creativity.”
Jennifer English, Global Brand Director of Johnnie Walker at Diageo, is outlining the approach which has powered 25 years of the Johnnie Walker ‘keep walking’ brand strategy.
“If the strategy is good then you have to be consistent, not side-tracked by random short-term decision making,” she explains, adding: “You can’t do everything so you have to make choices that are consistent with that strategy.”
Leaning on creativity and staying calm in the face of volatility are also top of her list of advice to brand marketers in the midst of economic and emotional uncertainty.
For English, diversity is not just a vital creative tool, it underpins Diageo’s entire approach to business. She explains: “For us diversity drives creativity and it also drives business performance.”
When it comes to the Johnnie Walker brand this focus extends to ensuring the brand tells the stories of people around the world. “In the past, the whole category was represented by one type of consumer,” she adds.
This commitment to diversity also extends to being intentional about changing the narrative by looking to the talent behind the lens. This shift is as much about those telling those stories as it is about the talent featured in them.
“We think about diversity from script to screen,” explains English. An ethos which extends to considering who wrote the script, who is behind the scenes and how diverse the creative agencies making the work are.
The brand has a long-standing partnership with Free The Bid and in 2023 over 50 adverts created by the brand were directed by a female director.
English points to the example of the global campaign for Black Label starring Jodie Turner Smith, directed by a female director and featuring T-Rex’s iconic ‘20th Century Boy’ reinterpreted through a female voice. The award-winning Errata at 88’ campaign utilised the brand’s ‘keep walking’ strategy to right a historical wrong.
English is clear that driving diversity is much like Johnnie Walker's ‘keep walking’ brand proposition – it is always a work in progress. “There is no doubt there is still more to do when it comes to promoting and supporting female creative leaders,” she says. Pointing to the brand’s long-standing partnership with Creative Equals Creative Comeback scheme English is committed to grassroots action to level the playing field.
A quarter of a century is a long time for a brand platform to thrive. Consistency is key to this success. “I do feel a responsibility to the legacy of the brand as a global icon” she explains. Yet that consistency does not equate to the brand standing still. “We stand at the edge of the category and welcome new people,” she explains, adding: “Our spirit of progress is all about our commitment to sustainability and DEI.” A commitment which underlines the power of continuing to place one foot in front of the other in an increasingly polarised world.
Read more about how Johnnie Walker is playing the long game here.
The Errata at 88’ campaign which scooped the Grand Prix in the Entertainment for Music Category at Cannes for Diageo Brasil and AlmapBBDO is a great example of this approach. Racism, elitism and sexism erased from history one of Brazil's greatest singers: Alaíde Costa. Costa, one of the founders of Bossa Nova, was ignored at a concert at Carnegie Hall in 1962 because she was a black woman.
“Our colleagues in Brazil won a Grand Prix in Cannes and changed the trajectory of Alaíde Costa’s career in her 80s,” explains English.
The team created an integrated campaign to honour Alaíde, present her to the newer generations and retell her story as one of the creators of Bossa Nova. Johnnie Walker partnered with Folha de São Paulo, penning a 70-year-old errata, placing Alaíde in the prominent place she always deserved. Utilising creativity and the ‘keep walking’ marketing ethos to correct this historical wrong.
In October 2023, upon discovering that there would be a second edition of the show that launched Bossa Nova in 1962 again without Alaíde, the campaign went further. It placed her on the Carnegie Hall stage, where she received a standing ovation for over three minutes. The campaign succeeded in creating a genuine moment in culture, not a one-off marketing stunt.
Creativebrief has launched the second instalment of its Diversity Drives Creativity report which underlines the continued creative and commercial firepower of consistent investment in inclusion.
The report showcases some of the most progressive agencies and brands successfully moving the dial by creating commercially successful and inclusive creative work.
This article is featured in the report, which you can download here.
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