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While people tend to drink cognac neat or on the rocks, Hennessy wants to shake things up with a playful and stylish campaign that shows the spirit’s versatility.
“Made for More” is the debut work for Hennessy by agency Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, which won the account from previous agency Droga5. The campaign shows viewers new ways of mixing and imbibing brandy cocktails, while introducing a lighter, fresher visual world for the legacy brand.
Directed by Andreas Nilsson in his trademark offbeat style, the five ads feature breakthrough British Nigerian actor Damson Idris and American singer and actress Teyana Taylor finding absurd ways to craft simple Hennessy cocktails.
Taylor blends pineapple juice to combine with Hennessy and bitters with a squeeze of lime shot at her from a tennis ball cannon.
Meanwhile, Idris sits on a massage chair to muddle together the ingredients of a Hennessy berry mojito. He also assembles the ingredients of a drink at an art gallery, swiping ginger ale from a mannequin and a lime wedge dangling from a woman’s hat.
“We wanted to treat the making of these drinks in rather strange places and ways like it was the most natural thing in the world,” W+K Amsterdam creative director Zeynep Orbay told ADWEEK. “There’s fun in never acknowledging the absurdity of a situation or explaining why something happens. The work, we felt, should almost feel like a cocktail in itself – a mashup of people, places and tones that all easily come together to communicate this sense of ‘more.’”
The campaign also emphasizes Hennessy’s status as a luxury brand, with tactics and visual cues that feel more reminiscent of fashion marketing.
The films will run across TV, cinema and online globally, accompanied by out-of-home ads shot by fashion photographer Micaiah Carter in cities across the U.S., Europe, Australia and South Africa. Social assets will share additional cocktail recipes, which are also available on Hennessy’s website.
Hennessy will also showcase the drinks at summer festivals, starting with the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, N.C., April 6 to 7.
“We wanted to show just how easy it is to create drinks with more flavor, depth and complexity – while also showing up in a way that’s fun, stylish and tonally unexpected,” Orbay said.
CREDITS:
Hennessy
Chief marketing officer: Julie Nollet
VP global marketing – Hennessy Premium: Cory Soutar
Global marketing manager: Elodie Koeberle
Brand manager: Lucile Perrin
Global communication manager: Fabien Sommer
Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam
President: Blake Harrop
Chief creative officer: Eric Quennoy, Mark Bernath
Creative director: Zeynep Orbay, Gustav von Platen
Art director: Anyaa Dev, Christian Baur
Copywriter: Allan Stevenson
Head of production: Jaime Tan
Executive producer: Tony Stearns
Producer: Stijn Wikkerink
Associate producer: Charlotte Igharo
Print producer: Caroline Hagoort
Strategy director: Odile Song
Head of comms planning: Elsa Stahura
Comms planner: Bliss Zhawi
Group account director: Erin Zito
Account director: Amandine Decourcelle
Account manager: Emily Saada
Studio director: Lizzie Murray
Studio producer: Maeva Richard, Jaime Siordia, Katie Finn, Joe Favre
Designer: Yaleesa Waelauruw
Motion designer: Kaye Cao, Sohyeon Nam, Serhii Serbin, Stelios Nikolaou
Studio artist: Noa Redero, Cindy Kouwenoord
Business affairs: Michael Graves
Production company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Andreas Nilsson
Director of photography: Lasse Frank
Producer: Peter Knowles
Executive producer: Rupert Reynolds-Maclean
Production designer: Alexis Ross
Stylist: PC Williams
Editing company: The Quarry
Editor: Ben Campbell
Audio post: String and Tins
Sound supervisor: Lawrence Kendrick
Additional sound design: Nigel Manington, Will Cohen
Foley: The Foley Barn
Audio producer: Eimear Ní Ghuaire
Music
Music supervision: King Lear, Mr Pape
Film: “Henessy & Massage”
Title: “Expo”
Artist: Anchorsong
Label: Tru Thoughts Recordings Ltd., Third Side Music
Publisher: Full Thought Publishing, CTM Outlander Music
Film: “Hennessy & Tennis”:
Title: “Sports”
Artist: Viagra Boys
Label: Year0001
Publisher: Kobalt Music, M. Ehrencrona, D. Fagerstroem
Film: “Hennessy & Board Game”
Title: “In Cerca Di Cibo: Nel Paese Delle Alpi Industriose”
Artist: Fiorenzo Carpi
Label: CAM Sugar
Publisher: Cloud 9 Music
Film: “Hennessy & Lawnmower”
Title: “Tchiki Tchiki Tchiki”
Artist: Make the Girl Dance (feat. Little Barrie)
Label: Roy Music
Publisher: Roy Music, BMG
Film: “Hennessy & Gallery”
Title: “Plum”
Artist: Omega Sapien (feat. Sega Bodega)
Label: Warp Records
Publisher: APM, Sony Music Publishing, B. Pub, Supernature
Post production: Selected Works
VFX supervisor: Wes
2D lead artist: Georgina Ford
2D artists: Eileen Chan, Dave Wishart
3D lead artist: Mickey O’Donoghue
3D artist: Paul Donnellan
Matte painting: Kirsty Cutler
Colorist: Hannibal Lang (BaconX)
Executive producer: Alex Fitzgerald
Senior producer: Kate Ryan
Photography production company: Widening Circles
Photographer: Micaiah Carter
Producer: Zein Zubi
Product Photography: Making Pictures
Producer Coco Wolf
Post and retouch: Picture House
Spatial design agency: StoreyStudio Ltd.
CD/founder: Robert Storey
Director: Charley Barclay
Project manager: Mackenzie Flannagan
Design director: Evie Sudlow
Project designer: Faysal Altunbozar
Senior designer: Tanya Eskander
Project designer: David Flook
W+K art director: Morgane Lambert
