The Woodford Reserve Distillery had a problem, but a good problem.
With the swift rise in popularity of American Whiskey, the Bourbon Trail quickly became the Napa Valley of Kentucky. The Woodford Reserve Distillery saw a sharp influx of visitors, which the once sleepy property was not ready to handle. The staff did its best to accommodate but at peak times guests were waiting upwards of 2-3 hours for a tour. Many left frustrated, leaving a less than desirable brand impression.
But, we saw opportunity within the crowd. What if we could create a physical/digital experience that could tell the full Woodford Reserve story, leaving guests with a great feeling for the brand no matter if they had time to take the tour or not? To add to the challenge we gave ourselves 7 minutes to tell this story in order to keep traffic flowing and more users the chance to interact.
Luckily, the brand decided to undertake a renovation of its visitor center and we were able to work directly with brand managers, architects and interior designers to make our instillation a seamless part of the environment.
The first user, the Governor of Kentucky.
The physical digital installation was a collaboration between myself, the visual design team and in-house industrial design team and features a large touch screen display where visitors can gesturally drag and open floating postcards to learn more about the distillery while they wait for an on-site tour. Visually we created a rich look that speaks to the history of the distillery and an icon system to represent flavor nuances of the spirit.
The physicality of the installation was designed to reflect the idea of a wood beam from the ceiling of the building being sliced crosswise to reveal the digital “rings” of history behind the Woodford Reserve brand.
Agency: Code and Theory
Creative Director: Andreas Tagger
Industrial Design Director: Geoff Baldwin