Background
Launching the Brand
Orkney Distilling, a small craft distillery located in the picturesque islands of Orkney, Scotland, was founded in 2016 with a mission to create world-class gins and spirits using locally sourced ingredients and traditional distilling techniques. As a relatively new player in the highly competitive spirits industry, Orkney Distilling knew that it needed a strong online presence to reach its target audience and stand out from the crowd. That's where NB Communication stepped in to help.
In 2016, Orkney Distilling approached NB Communication to create its website, which would highlight its range of gins and provide information about the distilling process and the company's story.
The team at NB Communication worked closely with Orkney Distilling to understand its brand values and target audience, and created a visually stunning website that perfectly captured the essence of the distillery.
The Distillery Opens
As the brand gained momentum and recognition, the impressive distillery building on Kirkwall’s harbour front was built and opened its doors in 2018.
With the new physical premises came new opportunities for NB to assist with platforms and integrations that would help Orkney Distilling sell in person and tour bookings online. We assisted with integration of a booking system for tours and gin-making experiences, and the Shopify Point of Sale system which consolidates all sales data (online and offline) into a single platform. This provides excellent reporting capabilities, and the link with an accounting system significantly streamlines administration tasks for Orkney Distilling staff.
Solution
Ongoing Content Marketing
Over the years, we have helped deliver a range of content marketing services to help reach new audiences, raise brand awareness, and increase customer loyalty.
Online sales were key to the initial success of the gin so Orkney Distilling needed the right platform to gain early engagement with potential customers. NB devised creative online marketing activities that would ensure maximum exposure and engagement from the very beginning, achieving an impressive number of mailing list subscribers before the product even launched. We developed a Shopify e-commerce site which would provide the perfect platform to grow and nurture a loyal customer base.
Our activities have included email marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), paid advertising via Facebook and Google Ads, blog posts and more. We have run competitions that have helped gain new followers and planned effective marketing campaigns for new product launches.
Redevelopment
By 2021, Orkney Distilling undertook a packaging rework to align all core gins in their range with new, bespoke bottle designs.
It was also time to redevelop the website to provide optimisations, an improved structure, and an engaging visual design that fully highlighted the brand's story, quality, and high-end products. Our Shopify development included custom-coded areas aligned with broader goals and aspirations for future success. In 2022, NB Communication launched the new Orkney Distilling website, which improved the site's performance, ease of maintenance, and overall aesthetic appeal.
In 2024, alongside the ongoing marketing, NB Communication developed a new homepage and internal pages to incorporate Orkney Distillery's new whisky line. The new navigation was added to bring in more visual appeal and options for the distillery's widening spirit range and experiences.