Turning Newfoundland & Labrador on to ‘rocktails’

A campaign by Ray tries to get locals to try something premium, but unpretentious.
By
June 7, 2022

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Take a seat in a bar in St. John’s and you’ll know right away that Newfoundland & Labrador is firmly rum and coke country.

Which could be a problem if you are The Newfoundland Distillery Company, which also makes gin, vodka and aquavit alongside its own rum, and has to convince locals to broaden their cocktail horizons.

A campaign by local agency Ray tries to do just that, by showing that ingredients like seaweed, chaga mushroom and rhubarb mean the distillery’s lineup of spirits can result in cocktail that are fancy, but not complicated.

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Being fussy or pretentious can be what kills a brand trying to appeal to Newfoundlanders, so videos promoting the “rocktails” – playing off of Newfoundland’s nickname of “the rock” – show that what makes the company’s premium spirits worth it is the fact that they use high-quality, local ingredients. The spots are firmly based in Newfoundland landscapes, be it the coastlines or the forests where the Disterilly gets its ingredients, much to the dismay of local inhabitants that would rather have them for themselves, be they grumpy forest gnomes or whales.

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The campaign was timed for the summer, In addition to the digital videos, the campaign is also running on social, print and OOH channels.

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