Social Campaign Concept, Art Direction & animation
A global campaign launch for Ballantine’s B7, introducing the brand’s first American barrel whisky to a new audience.
American Barrel Launch
Ballantine’s needed to launch its first American barrel whisky in a way that spoke to bourbon drinkers while staying true to its Scotch heritage.
The Challenge
Ballantine’s launched B7, its first whisky finished in American bourbon barrels. The goal was to reach bourbon drinkers while engaging existing whisky fans, creating a campaign that felt authentically American without falling into clichés. The task was to promote the new bottle with its own distinct identity while staying true to Ballantine’s global brand voice.
The Approach
I led art direction and design execution across social assets, working from a defined campaign style. My role covered visual concepting, static design, retouching, animation, and video editing.
The campaign storytelling centred on Ballantine’s line “There’s No Wrong Way”. Assets combined heritage and modern culture, weaving founder-led history with lifestyle-led storytelling.
The 2-minute launch film introduced B7’s story with cinematic footage and animated sequences. I took the initial edit and reshaped it completely, adding my own animated sequence where heritage elements dropped into a newspaper collage.
A video carousel showed how to make a signature B7 cocktail step by step, while static posts carried a storytelling tone supported by SEO-led captions. The full system used a palette of woody tones, textures, and overlays, differentiating B7 from Ballantine’s core blue branding.
The campaign storytelling centred on Ballantine’s line “There’s No Wrong Way”. Assets combined heritage and modern culture, weaving founder-led history with lifestyle-led storytelling.
The 2-minute launch film introduced B7’s story with cinematic footage and animated sequences. I took the initial edit and reshaped it completely, adding my own animated sequence where heritage elements dropped into a newspaper collage.
A video carousel showed how to make a signature B7 cocktail step by step, while static posts carried a storytelling tone supported by SEO-led captions. The full system used a palette of woody tones, textures, and overlays, differentiating B7 from Ballantine’s core blue branding.
The Results
- Campaign successfully launched B7 across Ballantine’s global markets
- Strong social engagement across video, carousel, and static assets
- Positive adoption by regional teams, extending beyond initial launch plan
- Helped position Ballantine’s as a whisky brand able to speak to both whisky and bourbon drinkers
Process
A breakdown of how I approached the launch of Ballantine’s B7 across film, carousels, static posts, and animation. From heritage storytelling to lifestyle-led design, each step shows how the campaign came to life through craft and visual thinking.
01
Shaping the story.
I worked from the overarching line “There’s No Wrong Way,” adapting it to suit B7’s American barrel identity. The goal was to blend Ballantine’s heritage with a new bourbon-inspired voice, setting the tone for all social assets.
02
Rebuilding the launch video.
The 2-minute hero film began as a simple edit, which I reshaped into a cinematic brand story. I introduced an animated sequence where heritage elements dropped into a newspaper collage, making history part of the modern launch narrative.
03
Designing cocktails step by step.
I created a video carousel that broke down how to mix a B7 cocktail. Each slide showed a different stage of the process, visually clean and caption-led for SEO. This format made the new whisky easy to engage with for cocktail drinkers.
04
Crafting the look and feel.
From product shots to lifestyle imagery, I designed static posts and animations using a consistent system of woody tones, textures, and overlays. This gave B7 a distinct visual identity while still connecting back to Ballantine’s global brand.
the visuals
From launch films to cocktail carousels, the campaign brought B7’s story to life across formats. Each piece used a consistent system of woody textures and tone, American-inspired tones, and the unifying line “There’s No Wrong Way.”