Innovation through sensory exploration
Many organisations wrestle with the concept of innovation, mainly because they tend to believe business should be done the way it always has been done. As a result, many great firms that were around before the dawn of the commercial internet in 1990 no longer exist. From Daewoo and Olivetti to Pan Am and Sears, their histories, management styles and legacy cultures made them unable to compete in a new era.
But innovating an old brand is not always about cutting-edge technology or new management styles.
This message was brought home beautifully last week when a 200-year-old brand launched a product that was all about innovation — without compromising its existing business. Johnnie Walker, manufacturer of the world’s best-selling Scotch whiskies, released a limited-edition product called Blue Label Elusive Umami, defining it by the innovation that went into its creation.
Umami is a Japanese word meaning “essence of deliciousness”, and is a savoury flavour regarded as the fifth taste, along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter. It is also an elusive flavour many culinary experts try to replicate.
Johnnie Walker’s master blender Emma Walker collaborated with renowned Japanese chef Kei Kobayashi to create a whisky that encapsulated the character of umami.
“It wasn’t just a blending experience, but a gastronomic exploration,” she said.
Johnnie Walker’s holding company Diageo said: “In the world of spirits, tradition and heritage have long been the bedrock upon which the finest brands have built their legacies.
“For centuries, whisky distillers have remained faithful to age-old techniques, cherishing the time-tested methods that have yielded some of the world’s most cherished libations.
“However, a paradigm shift is under way, and innovation has become the guiding star in the spirits industry, ushering in a new era of possibility and excitement.”
The entire industry was experiencing a “renaissance in innovation”, said Diageo.
Rivals are experimenting with new cask types to bring new flavours to their whiskies, resulting in variants such as Japanese Mizunara oak and Australian Acacia.
New fermentation techniques are creating more complex whiskies, new distillation methods are delivering whiskies with different profiles, and new maturation approaches are producing new flavours and aromas. Apart from the world discovering single-malt whisky in a big way in the 21st century, this innovation has also underpinned the popularity of a new style of whisky shop, such as Whisky Brother in Johannesburg and Wild About Whisky in Dullstroom, where customers spend more time talking about the products than browsing the stock.
With innovation in the industry has come an unprecedented level of expertise from whisky vendors.
“Innovation for the Johnnie Walker brand will no longer be a rare occurrence,” said Diageo. “By embracing innovation at every turn, Johnnie Walker is not only rewriting the rules and conventions of whisky, but also captivating a new generation of whisky aficionados.”
Donne Wolk, portfolio manager for innovation at Diageo, told Business Times at the launch of Elusive Umami at the Circa Gallery in Johannesburg: “It’s the first limited-edition Johnnie Walker Blue, and we are hoping to bring out a new innovation every year. For Umami itself, it’s limited liquid. Only this year will you have this liquid. We’re hoping that it will be on the market for two to three months, and then it will be gone. This time next year, maybe you can expect a new innovation and new liquid.”
But do consumers really want innovation from traditional brands? Wolk says it is not even a debate. “For Johnnie Walker to stay relevant with consumers, they need to look at how consumers are seeing whisky, and making sure that we can bring the new to consumers.”