Build something different.
- Custom Development
- Mobile And Responsive
- Video
Industries
Hospitality
Year
2017
Awards
CSS: Special Kudos
Revolutionizing the traditional cocktail book.
Auchentoshan, a Beam Suntory brand, is unlike any other kind of scotch—a scotch meant for mixing, not just sipping. They needed a website unlike anything else out there. We turned the traditional cocktail book on its head and built an interactive web app—a digital cocktail book that allows users to quite literally shake things up.
The Challenge
Crafting the first of its kind.
An interactive web app comes with a whole host of technical challenges. Building a mobile-first, video-centric, digital cocktail book with features that hadn’t been done before ensured we’d have to build from scratch. Seeing this concept come to life made it all worth it, though. (Cheers to that!)
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The Process
Turning a big idea into action.
Working collaboratively with our client partners at White Label, we prioritized features and functionalities, keeping the user experience as our north star. To get the look and feel right, we presented multiple design directions, layering in Beam’s branding to ensure it was uniquely “Auchentoshan.” Once there was a clear winner, we hit the ground running.
Build it, test it, try again.
The biggest challenge was building the functionalities of an app within the constraints of a website. Overcoming hurdles ranging from data usage issues with auto-play videos to complex photo sharing integrations, we went through many iterations of build, test, and pivot to find the right solutions.
Talk whiskey to me.
We implemented voice activated scrolling, so a user can have two hands on making their scotch cocktail and tell the website “next” to flip the page. There’s also an integrated Facebook chatbot to ask and answer questions, send a grocery list of cocktail ingredients to your phone, find where to buy Auchentoshan, and more.
Shake it up.
Beyond the technical hurdles, there was the challenge of repositioning a classic on-the-rocks liquor to the spirit-of-choice in a craft cocktail. To execute this transformation, we worked with bartenders and mixologists across the country to create recipes for exciting new cocktails. We designed the site so users will not only want to try them, but can make them at home. The recipes are easy to follow, the videos are informative and fun, and you can actually “shake” your phone to scroll through the content.
“You hear ‘web apps’ as this trending term now, but when we built this that wasn’t even a thing. Being able to talk to your phone to flip through the cocktail book was something completely new to websites. It was very future-thinking.”
Former Digital Strategist at White Label, an independent drinks marketing agency
The Solution
Auchentoshan’s one-of-a-kind scotch deserved a one-of-a-kind digital experience. This interactive cocktail book-slash-web app goes above and beyond in both features and functionality—it’s as fun as it is useful. Scotch, meet cocktail. Cocktail, scotch.
Voice navigation for hands-free, step-by-step cocktail making
Auto-play videos for users to feel like they’re in a bar, watching a bartender make the cocktail
Leveraged accelerometer to detect the speed of phone movement for users to “shake it up”
Social sharing with custom filters to engage users after cocktail is made
Built a chatbot feature to pop up and direct users to Facebook Messenger to ask and answer questions, send a grocery list of cocktail ingredients to their phone, find where to buy Auchentoshan, etc.
Custom animations and load-in sequences to tie together the concept, i.e. glass filling up as page loads
Mobile-first, but perfectly functional on desktop. Optimized for all viewing mediums, including different browsers and in-app views
Stats
23
new scotch cocktail recipes
1st
digital cocktail book of its kind
The Awards
CSS Awards: Special Kudos
“You hear ‘web apps’ as this trending term now, but when we built this that wasn’t even a thing. Being able to talk to your phone to flip through the cocktail book was something completely new to websites. It was very future-thinking.”
Former Digital Strategist at White Label, an independent drinks marketing agency