Hennessy has debuted “Very Special Cocktails,” a new collection of ready-to-serve bottled recipes crafted with Hennessy Very Special. To support the launch, the French cognac brand partnered with Highlanders Creative to develop the “It’s Henny Season” campaign, which transitions the brand from customary luxury settings into casual, warm-weather scenes.
The campaign features influencers Quenlin Blackwell, Salem Mitchell, and Michael Cimino, and showcases three new flavors: Henny-Rita, Henny Berry, and Henny Iced Tea.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the spot.
The Details:
- Hennessy’s new :30 “Very Special Cocktails” was a genuine market-wide breakthrough. The new ad for Hennessy RTS Cocktails posted overall response (as measured by Ace Score) +84 pts above the liquor norm, landing in the 94th percentile. Across a broad general-population audience, this execution outperformed more than nine out of ten liquor ads benchmarked over the past year:
- The shift to playful storytelling justified the relative risk, as the visuals and product itself were the top Single Best Thing picks by the gen pop audience—at 27% (+7 pts vs. 20% norm) and 24% (+4 pts vs. 20% norm) respectively. These two elements alone accounted for more than half of all positive attribution and delivered top decile breakthrough. Both Attention and Likeability placed in the category’s 95th percentile and Curiosity was sparked effectively.
- Thirsty registered as the dominant emotional signal (appropriately sparking Desire) and the ad conveyed the Information on the new product line (Change) in an entertaining and relatable manner (Relevance).
- In fact, even across the full audience, “Very Special Cocktails” enjoyed above-norm appeal across gender and generations (boomer females were the weakest audience) and encouraged 54% to positive consideration (a healthy +12 pts over the spirits benchmark and signaling the alignment of the product drop with consumer trends).
- Moreover, 80% easily recalled Hennessy as the advertised brand after a single full view of the spot (unaided and a full +23 pts above benchmark).
- The shift to playful storytelling justified the relative risk, as the visuals and product itself were the top Single Best Thing picks by the gen pop audience—at 27% (+7 pts vs. 20% norm) and 24% (+4 pts vs. 20% norm) respectively. These two elements alone accounted for more than half of all positive attribution and delivered top decile breakthrough. Both Attention and Likeability placed in the category’s 95th percentile and Curiosity was sparked effectively.
- The summertime vibe carried positively with drinkers of a wide variety of spirits as well as across the broader alcoholic beverage category (and even non-drinkers):
- Encouragingly, strength was registered among those indicating consumption of other RTS cocktails over the past 30 days, signaling conversion opportunities of potential new buyers for the brand.
Among spirits drinkers specifically:
- Second-by-second trace of the anthem reveals the instant engagement delivered by Ramsay, which held above the normative (shaded) range throughout the full :60 length among the soccer following audience:
- “Very Special Cocktails” performed quite well at +89 pts above the spirits-drinker norm—a genuine strength, but behind Knob Creek (+142 pts) and Captain Morgan (+137 pts).
- Knob Creek’s advantage was a substantially longer format—a :60 branded content execution built around education and authenticity. Its Information component registered at +183 pts and Change at +149 pts.
- “Very Special Cocktails” ranked second in the competitive set on Top 2 Box behind a very product-centric Captain Morgan :15 that also featured a summer vibe and RTS (“Sliced”) cocktails. At 66% Top 2 Box against the spirits-drinker norm of 55%, Hennessy persuaded at a rate +11 pts over norm yet trailed the competitive “Colada” spot by -6 pts.
- “Very Special Cocktails” performed quite well at +89 pts above the spirits-drinker norm—a genuine strength, but behind Knob Creek (+142 pts) and Captain Morgan (+137 pts).
- Emotional profiling reflects stronger Thirsty and solid Prodtastic response among viewers of the Captain Morgan “Colada” spot (introducing new flavors), likely indicative of the equity built by the brand’s Sliced RTS line since being introduced in 2020:
- Sentiment among spirits drinkers on “Very Special Cocktails” reflected Curiosity and interest around the new line as well as a high production appeal of the execution itself.
- Many spirits drinkers were genuinely surprised to learn Hennessy offers ready-to-drink cocktails. The convenience appealed, and the happy summer imagery was highly effective and fitting for the new drink format.
- Some expressed frustration with the wait to identify the brand and product. Although recall was strong by the end of the creative, in skippable environments, this creative decision could risk recall, intent, and follow through on intent. Opening branding and more focus on the specific flavors could serve well here and drive intent even higher with the added detail.
- A small section of viewers also expressed feelings of racial bias or being excluded.
- Sentiment among spirits drinkers on “Very Special Cocktails” reflected Curiosity and interest around the new line as well as a high production appeal of the execution itself.
Sample comments among spirits drinkers on the “Very Special Cocktails” :30
“I didn’t know you had ready-to-drink cocktails. I will be looking for them in the store. Great ad. It was a fun watch. Not a fan of the music though. The girls were pretty. The drinks looked refreshing.”
Male 50+
“Drinks you can just grab without having to prepare.”
Female 21-35
“The party time with friends looked cool, but please stop insisting in ads that Hennessy is just for black people, it comes off kinda racist. Other races and colors like it too. Hennessy is a good sit-and-chill kind-of booze.”
Male 36-49
“It’s interesting. I didn’t know that they had new versions/flavors. And I like how it was a chill beach party. It looked fun.”
Female 21-35
“It took far too long to figure out this was a Henny commercial.”
Female 36-49
“The music was good and visuals were engaging and appealing – pretty models and interesting angles used. The message was clear, with close-ups of drinks being poured, making me want to purchase.”
Female 21-35
“It is a generic commercial for alcohol, but it did deliver on me wanting to try it. Hennessy is a known brand and those prepared cocktails sounded like they would taste great.”
Male 36-49
“I think the ad would be more relevant to more customers if the ad did not promote the product as preferred by African Americans.”
Male 50+
“I liked the ad. I drink Hennessy from time to time. But now I know they’re potentially coming out with something new and tastier.”
Female 21-35
“The ad wasn’t targeted to my demographic. Hennessy just told me I don’t matter.”
Male 50+
“Honestly, in the beginning, I was a little confused about what it was gonna be about. It looks like a great product, and it has flavors that people would probably like with Hennessy, which I think is a screening factor and also the fact that there’s a variety, and that was eye-catching.”
Female 21-35
“It takes too long to identify the brand. I like ready-to-drink cocktails, and would try this. Just tell me the brand sooner.”
Female 50+
“Moved too quickly and you really could not distinguish the brand until the end. Labels on bottles are too small.”
Male 36-49
“Hennessy offering different flavors is very unique and has got me motivated to buy and try them up.”
Male 21-35
“Happy and bright visual scenes. Good use of B-roll fast cuts. Refreshing messaging for hot days. I would be curious to try ready mixed cocktails.”
Female 36-49
- Spirits drinkers across ethnicity found “Very Special Cocktails” very connective, underscoring the opportunity to focus on more clarity in broad representation in brand ads going forward:
Ineffective creative, even if delivered to the right audience, results in missed opportunity and performance shortfalls. Great creative delivered poorly also results in failed campaigns.
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Creative Agency: Wieden+Kennedy