I had an exclusive interview with the Chivas Regal brand ambassador from the Pernod Ricard Team who spoke candidly to me about the Chivas Regal afroblend campaign and how they came up with the whole concept. Here is what they had to say:
What has been your role as the Brand Ambassador throughout the Afroblend campaign? As the Brand Ambassador for Chivas, my role has been to plan, ensure that all the participating agencies are playing their part, and assist in the execution of our plans as the brand. As well, I’ve been in the frontline representing the brand at press conferences, meet and greets, hosting some of our consumer-centric events. We know that Andy Cole as been named Man United Legend in Partnership with Chivas, tell us more around why Chivas partners with all these legends? Manchester United is big on ensuring that both their past and current legends are always the team’s first ambassadors. With the partnership, it was very easy to collaborate with former United players such as Andy Cole, who embodies the “Success is a blend” tag that we use at Chivas. During his time on the pitch, his different skill sets contributed to the success of Manchester United. Here at Chivas, we believe that different components in the past, as well as now in the present, have contributed to the success and growth of Chivas Regal around the world.
What was the idea and purpose of Afroblend (a culmination of Fashion, Sport & Music) and why lead the campaign in Africa? Afroblend is a celebration of different pillars that most, if not all, Africans go by. Music is one of the biggest unifiers across the world, and in particular Africa (Look at how Afro-beats has taken over pop. Amapiano is one of the most listened to sub-genres of music now). When you think of music, you think about you and your friends going out to the “it” spot around town and that means you must dress to impress. Once you get to the club where the good music and well-dressed people are, you need a luxury drink to go along with those 2 elements mentioned, and that’s where Chivas comes in. What is your greatest accolade as the Chivas Regal brand in the world? Our founders James & John Chivas were the pioneers of blending whisky. Later down the line when Chivas Regal was being launched to the world, we were known (and still are) as the world’s first luxury whisky…because we launched a 25-Year-old as our first variant under Chivas Regal. Right now, our youngest variant of Chivas Regal is our 12-Year-Old, which still makes us a luxury whisky brand. How did you end up partnering with Manciny (Imani Migwi) and Victoria Kimani to assist in promoting the whole concept of Chivas regal Afroblend Campaign? As mentioned, the 3 pillars in the Afroblend campaign are football, fashion, and music. The fit with Manciny was perfect because she understands what blending different elements to create success is. Victoria as well. If you look at her journey in the music world, you’ll realize that she’s had to try different approaches to her craft, all of which have contributed to the success of Victoria Kimani as a brand. These 2 ladies have added so much to the success of the Afroblend campaign and I am grateful for working with them. What criteria did you use to approach various fashion designers and celebrities to reach out to a wider audience? We work with brands and people that live by what we preach which is Success is a blend. Everybody we have worked with in the past has had something unique that they add to the campaigns. Ultimately, the circles they influence all come together and appreciate what each of the other designers and influencers have to offer. What does this second campaign of Chivas Regal Afroblend mean to you and how do you plan to make a huge impact on your consumers and corporate clients across the globe specifically in Kenya for future campaigns/activations/exclusive events? This was a particularly challenging second campaign due to the global pandemic. Fortunately, the teams we collaborate with are all resilient and smart workers, so it made it easier to come up with better and unique ideas on how to proceed with the campaign. I would say this was the best one so far. Moving into the planning stage for the next campaign, we always believe that our consumers come first. The experiences we create would be entirely for the consumer to enjoy the brand, but most importantly feel like they are part of the brand. For exclusive events, I do a lot of personalized whisky tastings for corporates as well as smaller, more private, crowds. As the brand ambassador, I’m always open to conducting these. I can’t disclose any other plans just yet, but I know they’ll love them when the time comes.
How have you managed to face all the obstacles that have come with handling the Covid-19 pandemic as well as promoting the Chivas Regal brand during these difficult times? With the government restrictions in-market, we have been able to keep it together as a team through constantly sharing ideas on how to have an edge over the rest and execute to perfection with the help of some of our partnering agencies. Any last words of advice for your fellow African entrepreneurs and anyone else who would like to be a part of this great Chivas Regal Afroblend campaign in future? With the global pandemic hitting the world hard, it has also been difficult to create. However, our hope is to continue working with new creatives/entrepreneurs who are not afraid of coming up with different ideas and blending them to create a new level of success in their businesses.
