Sometimes a partnership begins with a spreadsheet. Sometimes it starts in a brainstorm. And sometimes, as Alexander Suer recalls, it begins in a moment when “everyone in the room simply dropped their pen.” That moment marked the beginning of the collaboration between Jameson, the Dutch rock band Kensington, and retail partner Gall & Gall. What started as a simple idea around a concert gradually evolved, over the course of roughly ten to fifteen weeks, into one of the most ambitious whisky activations of the year in the Netherlands.
Words and photos by Albert van Beeck Calkoen
From Ticket Giveaway to Full Activation
For Joris Lak, who oversees marketing and format at Gall & Gall, the process initially felt relatively modest. “The lead time was probably around ten weeks, maybe even fifteen,” he says. “It started from whisky as a category where we’re very active. At some point the idea of a concert came up, and someone suggested a ticket giveaway. But you know how brainstorms go. A giveaway quickly turns into an activation. Then someone asks, could we host a performance? Could we actually do something inside a store?” Lak laughs. “We see ourselves as an entrepreneurial company. If something sounds impossible, that’s exactly when we want to try it. And this time it actually worked.” What followed was far from a standard retail promotion. Instead of a simple shelf campaign, the idea grew into a full brand experience: live music, content production, in-store engagement, and a nationwide rollout across the retailer’s network.
A Strategic Shift at Pernod Ricard
On the brand side, the collaboration sits within a broader strategic shift at Pernod Ricard. The global drinks group recently reorganized its portfolio into two clearer clusters: Gold, which includes darker aged spirits such as whisky, and Crystal, covering white spirits like vodka. According to Country Manager Alexander Suer, the change was necessary to increase speed and focus. “The market forces us to move faster,” he explains. “With such a wide portfolio, you need a structure that allows brands to act more quickly. In the past we sometimes underestimated the power of individual brands within the organization. That created complexity and long communication lines. This model allows us to streamline things and move faster in the market.” For Jameson, that renewed focus also opens the door to reconnect the brand more deeply with culture, particularly music. “Jameson is a brand that works very naturally in the music space,” Suer says. “But we wanted to do it properly. We spent quite a bit of time looking for a Dutch band that really made sense.”
Then the name Kensington came up. “Literally everyone stopped writing,” Suer recalls. “It was one of those moments where you just know: this is the one.”
Why Kensington?
The connection, both sides say, lies in accessibility. “Within the whisky category, Jameson is an accessible whiskey,” Suer explains. “It’s not elitist, it’s welcoming. Kensington has a very similar quality in their music. Their songs are easy to embrace. There’s a sense of togetherness, of celebrating something collectively.” Matt Don Griot, Dark Spirits Brand Ambassador at Pernod Ricard, sees that same energy in the way the collaboration comes to life. “What you feel here tonight—that’s authenticity. You can’t fake that. You have to capture it.” The band’s broad fan base, their recognizability across the Dutch music landscape, and the approachable character of the brand made the partnership feel less like a marketing stunt and more like a cultural fit. Strategically, the collaboration isn’t built around a single objective. “It’s really about the whole matrix,” Suer says. “We’re not targeting just one aspect. It’s about reinforcing the brand, broadening our audience, recruiting new consumers, and strengthening our position. All of that together.” Just as important, the ambition extends beyond a one-off campaign. “We hope this can become a platform,” he adds. “Something we can build on over time. That’s something we’ll explore together with the band, but the ambition is definitely there.”
More Than Sales: Building Internal Energy
For Gall & Gall, the collaboration also carries significance internally. Lak believes initiatives like this play an important role in energizing the organization itself. “Maybe even more important than sales is internal pride,” he says. “We have colleagues in stores all across the country. When you create something like this, it shows them what’s possible when you work closely with brands. It inspires people.” The objectives are therefore both qualitative and quantitative. “It helps deepen product knowledge,” Lak explains. “It creates energy. Of course we want to introduce more customers to the brand and ultimately there needs to be commercial impact. But it starts with belief and enthusiasm.”
Keeping the Collaboration Authentic
With a global whiskey brand, one of the Netherlands’ best-known rock bands, and the country’s largest specialist drinks retailer involved, the risk of a campaign feeling forced was always present. Authenticity, therefore, became a guiding principle. “Authenticity isn’t just about putting materials in a store,” Don Griot says. “It’s about moments like this. The band being here. Filming real interactions. Capturing the atmosphere.” Suer agrees. “The campaign includes giveaways and in-store displays, of course. But the real weight of it sits in the content we’re creating and the momentum we’re trying to build around it.” Exclusivity also plays a role. The collaboration is focused entirely on Gall & Gall. “They are a very valued partner for us,” Suer says. “They have the scale and the retail power to really bring something like this to life. Both Jameson and Kensington deserve that kind of platform, which is why we chose to work exclusively with them for this activation.”
From One Store to Nationwide Impact
While some elements of the campaign take place in a single location, the impact spreads across the retailer’s national network. “You might see it happening in one store in Utrecht,” Lak says, “but at the same time we activate stores all across the country. That’s the strength of Gall & Gall. You can’t do something of this scale every week. But when you do it, it needs to have real impact.” In a whisky market that has faced increasing pressure in recent years, particularly for Irish whiskey, that kind of activation matters. “The category is challenging,” Lak acknowledges. “We believe retailers can also play a role in shaping and supporting the category. Initiatives like this help put both the brand and the category back in the spotlight.”
What Success Looks Like
Success, however, is not measured only in sales numbers. Of course, the team will track the commercial results carefully. “We’ll measure uplift, how many additional consumers we reach, the overall commercial impact,” Suer says. “Those metrics are essential.” But the first signal of success is something less tangible. “Momentum,” he says. “Buzz. Conversation. If people start talking about it, if we create energy around the brand, that’s the first win. Without momentum, nothing else follows.” Lak believes that momentum is already beginning to build. “You can feel the energy around it,” he says. “You see how teams engage with it. That’s where it starts.”
Win Tickets to Kensington
All of that energy now translates directly to the shop floor. Across Gall & Gall stores in the Netherlands, a nationwide campaign invites customers to purchase a bottle of Jameson for the chance to win tickets to Kensington’s concert on March 31. Supported by in-store displays, promotional materials, and a strong push across social channels, fuelled by the content captured during the activation, the campaign aims to turn a cultural moment into retail engagement. “For us, this is a perfect example of how you can build a brand together with a partner,” Lak says. Suer nods in agreement. “Of course we want to sell bottles,” he says. “But more importantly, we want to build something that lasts longer than a single campaign.”
In that sense, the collaboration is about more than a promotion. It’s about shared energy: an Irish whiskey, a Dutch band, and a retail platform willing to take a risk and turn a simple idea into something much bigger.
