Here's how Godawan's latest campaign tries to save the rare species of Rajasthan

Godawan, Diageo India’s artisanal Single Malt Whisky, established in 2022 has already started making an impact in the country. The brand has recently been awarded in Marketers’ Excellence Awards (MEA 2023) for its campaign titled ‘A rare whisky to save a rare species’. The campaign has scored 9 and struck gold in the category of best packaging.

The campaign, designed by Butterfly Cannon, was built on an idea of Rajasthan’s state bird, the Godawan which was in danger of extinction.

With only 128 remaining, and with the insight that today’s Indian luxury consumer buys into brands with genuine purpose, the opportunity to create a brand to save a rare species was born. Keeping this in mind, the agency has built the positioning, story and identity for this artisanal Indian single malt whisky brand from the ground up.

afaqs! spoke to Chris Joscelyne, marketing manager, Butterfly Cannon to understand the brief, design, execution and outcome of the campaign.

"Over the course of an epic Indian research trip with the client to the distillery’s home in Rajasthan, we learnt its rare state bird, the Great Indian Bustard or Godawan, was in danger of extinction. Building on the insight that there are few brands launched with the sole intention of being purposeful, we decided this would be a brand born to do good. One with the purpose of saving the Godawan at the heart of all its identity, comms and actions," shares Joscelyne.

Speaking about the challenges, he says that the Godawan brand had to exude both premium and purpose at every touchpoint, without compromising on either. “We created a new set of design cues that reflected a more responsible and sustainable stance, using these cues to create the brand from the ground up. Not only did it have to taste exquisite and look beautiful, each element of the brand had to be sourced as responsibly as possible for an audience that never takes things solely on face value."

According to Joscelyne, the work on the project began on protecting the habitat of the Godawan birds two and a half years before the whisky itself was launched. "This time was used to create Godawan’s brand world, tone of voice, packaging, key visuals, launch campaign, and brand activations such as serve rituals, brand ambassador & bartender toolkits, on & off-trade POS, digital and social media content and guidelines. All collected into a detailed brand book to allow a phased global rollout."

Since the launch, the brand has achieved the highest rate of sales of any Diageo India brand.

Vikram Damodaran, chief innovation officer, Diageo India, on its launch commented, “It’s been an incredible journey to bring Godawan, Diageo India’s innovation in artisanal single malt whisky, to life and Butterfly Cannon have been there with us every step of the way. From creating the brand story, to designing the brand identity, packaging and beyond, their exquisite work for Godawan reflects not only the region’s craftsmanship and ingenuity, but also the commitment to sustainability and preservation of the land it comes from."