MISSION agency, Story, part of Bray Leino Group, has launched Trudernish, a new fifteen year old expression from Ardbeg, which joins the whisky’s core range. The project covered naming, packaging and communications and follows Story’s recent redesign of the Ardbeg core range packaging.
Trudernish is named after a small hamlet on Islay and is described as a smoky dram of creamy harmony. Its story draws on local folklore about an old well near Trudernish, part of the island’s Enchanted Cape, which is famously hard to find.
The packaging is designed to reveal this folklore and origin story, with discoverable details in the illustration that reward a closer look. Susan Anderson, Deputy Creative Director at Story, explained that few people beyond some older islanders know where the well is, which prompted the team to layer hidden depth into the carton and labels.
The launch campaign builds on this idea, observing that the most remarkable things can be found in plain sight. Social content uses in-camera trompe-l’oeil effects with no AI or CGI. In one execution, Ardbeg Distillery Manager Bryony McNiven appears as though she is framed by a distillery window. Others show a well transforming into a barrel and a milk bottle becoming a whisky bottle.
The launch also reached the real world at The Whisky Show at Old Billingsgate, where 3D street artist Manfred Stader created a bespoke Trudernish artwork live.
