Hey judges, let’s get straight into it.

Let’s set the scene. Johnnie Walker was losing relevancy in Eastern Europe: brand equity was declining for the past 3 years, market penetration was decreasing, the product was underperforming when compared to its main competitors and our global campaigns were not working at a local level. This was hurting the business. It was time to act.

With unwavering conviction, we set out to reignite Johnnie Walker’s status as a cultural icon among Eastern European whiskey drinkers. Transform the renowned Keep Walking global brand into a campaign tailored to the region.

We realised we had to move away from the one-size-fits-all approach Johnnie Walker was taking and tap into a unique regional insight. We started uncovering the sentiment of resilience we see in Eastern Europe by asking our audience: “why do you keep walking?”

The resounding answer: Tenacity. While others engage in endless deliberation, the Eastern European spirit thrives on taking decisive action. This is the unique trait connecting our “Keep Walking” historical brand character to this specific audience. While others discuss and overthink things…the Eastern Europeans always keep moving with resilience. No matter what’s in front of them. We found this parallel between brand and audience to be our undeniable way in.

Enter Mila Jovovich, whose tenacity took her from Ukraine to the world’s stage. With a track record of success that speaks for itself for the last two decades, Milla became the face, embodying our new regional, campaign motto: Less Talking, Keep Walking.

We gave life to it through a main film, setting the tone of the campaign with Milla taking center stage. She takes us by the hand and shows how her story of progress embodies the same resilient spirit and tenacity we see in so many Eastern Europeans, and Johnnie Walker. Someone who forges ahead with determination to overcome any challenge, and lets their actions do the talking.

To maximize our local relevance, and through social channels, Milla was followed by like-minded locally relevant “Walkers” such as “Georgi Toshev”, a Bulgarian artist, and “Angela Nedyalkova”, a jack of all trades – to name a few -, who in their own right, also set the example and keep walking forward, embodying relentless progress and tenacity.

This is how we know we got it right: 
With a powerful combination of paid and organic reach, our campaign positioned Johnnie Walker as the most prominent whiskey brand in Hungary and Bulgaria, and the second most talked about in Romania. This validated both the campaign’s impact and solidified its place as a catalyst for sparking important conversations within these markets.


We saw a remarkable 21% increase in volume and an impressive 32% increase in value compared to the same period in the previous year, consolidating our position as market leaders in our key markets. Our reach surpassed all previous benchmarks established by Johnnie Walker and had a profound resonance with our audience. 

Beyond achieving brand awareness and sales targets, we elevated Johnnie Walker to a platform where it catalysed discussions around collective progress and inspired everyone to keep walking forward.