On this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, chief model and group officer Jenny Rooney sits down with Josh Dean, founder of brand name consultancy Dean and Daughters and former international VP of Johnnie Walker at Diageo, to unpack how Johnnie Walker has remained culturally related for greater than two centuries whereas attracting a brand new technology of shoppers. 

Josh explains how the long-lasting “Maintain Strolling” platform serves as a inventive north star, enabling genuine collaborations throughout music, style, leisure, and sports activities with out diluting model fairness. 

From partnerships with Squid Recreation and Olivier Rousteing to campaigns that includes Sabrina Carpenter, the dialog explores culture-first advertising, selective model partnerships, and the way legacy manufacturers can stability heritage with innovation to drive long-term progress and client connection. 

What you’ll be taught:

  • The best way to place heritage as momentum, not nostalgia
  • The culture-first partnership framework
  • Why the product ought to take a backseat in culture-driven campaigns
  • The best way to flip cultural moments into business runways
  • The function of inside alignment in executing bold collaborations
  • The best way to flip down alternatives strategically

Josh brings over a decade of brand-building experience from his tenure at Unilever and subsequent roles at Tommy John and S’effectively. Identified for his strategic method to model tradition and artistic innovation, Josh focuses on driving long-term sustainable progress by purposeful storytelling and genuine partnerships.

Episode Highlights:

[02:15] Creativity as a Lengthy-Time period Model Progress Engine — Josh explains that creativity ought to be seen as a long-term progress driver quite than simply an promoting tactic. Whereas many corporations prioritize short-term income targets, Johnnie Walker treats creativity as a strategic benefit that strengthens model distinctiveness, loyalty, and pricing energy over time. This mindset permits daring cultural partnerships that appeal to new audiences with out weakening model fairness. For CMOs, the important thing lesson is to place creativity internally as a enterprise funding that compounds worth and helps sustainable progress.

[07:48] Tradition-First Technique: Collaborate, Don’t Borrow — Josh shares that manufacturers achieve tradition after they collaborate authentically with tradition creators as a substitute of chasing developments. Johnnie Walker evaluates each partnership in opposition to its “Maintain Strolling” North Star to make sure alignment with themes of progress and reinvention. The Sabrina Carpenter collaboration labored as a result of her private evolution mirrored the model’s ethos naturally. Dean argues that manufacturers ought to deal with shared values and mutual authenticity, serving to partnerships really feel credible, resonate with audiences, and keep away from the disconnect that usually comes from trend-driven advertising.

[09:22] Prioritize Model That means Over Product Show — Josh explains that Johnnie Walker deliberately retains the product secondary in lots of cultural campaigns, focusing as a substitute on constructing emotional that means across the model. Somewhat than centering promoting on the bottle itself, the model creates narratives tied to progress, creativity, and cultural relevance. Within the Squid Recreation collaboration, collectible bottles grew to become symbols of the cultural second as a substitute of overt gross sales instruments. The method offers the model flexibility throughout campaigns whereas strengthening differentiation, long-term relevance, and deeper emotional client connections.