For over a century, the Striding Man has been Johnnie Walker’s icon and an integral part of its history, always conveying the spirit and symbolizing moving forward.

He’d been untouched for over 100 years. But in 2018, when female progress in America faced obstacles, Johnnie Walker took the bold step of introducing a new form of the icon; The Striding Woman.

Jane Walker; the first ever female iteration of the logo, was born as a celebration of the many achievements of women, the men who support them, and the shared journey towards gender equality.

This in itself was a statement, showing the commitment to inspire women to Keep Walking.

A Special-Edition of its Black Label blend, The Jane Walker Edition, was introduced in March for Women’s History Month. Proceeds from every bottle went towards organizations such as Monumental Women, dedicated to bringing more female icons to the forefront of society.

Johnnie Walker Black Label The Jane Walker Edition became available for purchase nationwide in March 2018 in celebration of Women’s History Month.

To support the effort, Johnnie Walker pledged a donation of $1 for every bottle made to organizations championing women’s causes, with a total donation of up to $250,000. In partnership with Instagram influencers, people were encouraged to tag friends with the #walkwithjane hashtag, which triggered an additional donation in support of women’s progress organizations.

With the donation, Johnnie Walker supported Monumental Women, a nonprofit dedicated to creating a monument honoring America’s women’s suffrage movement in New York City’s Central Park.

Johnnie Walker also celebrated the next generation of female leaders by donating a portion of the proceeds to She Should Run, who are dedicated to inspiring women to run for office.

The campaign engaged over 4MM followers and earned 188k views and 708 comments, amplified through our influencer program.

Earned media coverage drove excitement and intrigue for the release of the Jane Walker Edition garnering 1.5 billion impressions and over 350 stories in target-relevant outlets, including TIME, Ellen and Forbes.

Drove 92% positive sentiment highlighting Jane Walker as a celebration of women.

Within the first 30 days of becoming available on ecommerce site ReserveBar, sales of the Jane Walker Edition were recorded at 159% above average for Diageo LTOs within the first month of launch.

Across traditional retail, many retailers had to limit sales to 1 bottle per consumer due to high demand.

JohnnieWalker.com saw an 18% increase in site visits in the month of March YOY (vs. March 2017) after the launch of Jane at the beginning of the month, indicating mass interest and support for the initiative.

The Jane Walker campaign was centered around the introduction of a new icon to the world; The Striding Woman called Jane Walker. The main vehicle to display this iteration of the logo was a Special Edition bottle and packaging, of the iconic Johnnie Walker Black Label Blend. So, the product itself became the media. This created a direct interaction with the target, who were inspired to proudly display the bottles on their shelves and support female progress, as proceeds from the bottles went towards organizations that stand for the progress of women.

This is a story about Johnnie Walker standing for Progress by bringing gender parity to its icons.

As a continuation of Keep Walking America, we wanted to build affinity with Americans who shared in our values by highlighting communities that have made a positive contribution to society. This year, we focused on the women who are paving the way towards gender equality and the men who supported the cause.

We uncovered in qualitative research that the negative cultural climate around gender equality inspired women and men to actively change it. Therefore, we knew we needed to act on our purpose rather than just talk about it.

In March of 2018, during Women’s History Month and the weekend of the Oscars, we took a stand on Women’s Progress by introducing an icon to the world that was a badge for gender equality, supporting organizations championing the progress of women.

For nearly 200 years, Johnnie Walker has stood for progress. The brand has always offered a vision of a future in which personal progress is not only possible, but beneficial for all.

Our Keep Walking America campaign last year supported the communities in America who faced barriers to their own progress. This year was no different. We set out with the ambition to support Women’s Progress at a time when gender equality issues permeated every level of our society.

A value held close to the brand with women playing a significant role in its history dating back to 1893. Today, nearly 50% of the brand’s 12 expert blenders are women, with female leadership across marketing and C-Level executives.

Our goal was to find a way to celebrate and support the inspiring women in our society in order to reflect our shared values with today’s modern, diverse set of drinkers.