Unique live online sale for Three Ships Whisky Master’s Collection a first in South African whisky industry
South African agency Quirk, a Mirum company, landed top honours with the Best User Experience award at the Webby’s for its unique online shopping experience of Three Ships Whisky Master’s Collection. A first for the South African whisky industry, the online sale demonstrated the agency’s ability to leverage technology and turn a digital experience into something supremely human.
The Webby’s jury comprises selected members from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The Best User Experience sub category recognises innovative design and useful functionality in online experiences produced on behalf of a brand for its consumers. The 2016 award show saw agencies from 65 countries enter 13,000 pieces of work, across the five main categories.
Commenting on the win, Liezl Dippenaar, Brand Manager on Three Ships at Distell, said, “The unique online shopping experience mirrored the pioneering spirit of the Three Ships brand which has created many firsts for the South African whisky industry. We wanted to create excitement and offer our consumers an authentic and meaningful experience.”
Quirk was challenged with finding the best way to sell a limited edition, rare whisky, online. Eight hundred bottles were available for the Three Ships Whisky Master’s Collection online shopping experience, ranging in price from R100 to R10,000. In collaboration with 140BBDO, the team innovated with a live stream event featuring the whisky’s Master Distiller. During the exciting sale, consumers selected a numbered bottle to purchase, paid for it in under a minute using SnapScan and then watched their bottle being pulled from the shelf before being signed by the Master Distiller. This was the first time the Three Ships audience had shared an experience like this with the Master Distiller and they loved it. The whisky sold out in 4 hours which represents a bottle sold every 45 seconds.
Rob Stokes, Quirk CEO, commented, “I’m super excited about this win as it highlights Quirk’s quest to help our clients develop digital products that offer an incredible experience for their customers.”
Talking about the campaign and the win, Andrew Bloom, Quirk Executive Creative Director added, “It’s an honour to be competing against top tier creative and power brands such as Nike. We wanted our client’s audience to experience something extraordinary, that reflected the distillery’s passion and proud tradition. This win sets the future for Quirk. There is more to come and the benchmark for what is possible has just been raised.”