It Needs a New Permission Structure
Whisky sales are facing a real and measurable downturn.
Global Scotch sales have declined for the third consecutive year in 2025, driven by a perfect storm:
US tariffs tightening margins, slowing demand in key markets like China, broader economic pressure on discretionary spend, and a clear shift in consumer behaviour towards moderation and non-alcoholic alternatives.
The result?
Oversupply.
Production cuts.
And more distilleries closing their doors.
But this isn’t a collapse of demand.
It’s a collapse of relevance.
People haven’t stopped caring about whisky.
They’ve stopped responding to the way it’s being sold.
And that’s where digital advertising — done properly — becomes the industry’s most important lever.
Whisky used to be a reward.
Now rewards look different.
The new luxury isn’t getting smashed.
It’s slowing down.
Your digital advertising shouldn’t say:
“Have another.”
It should say:
“This one is enough.”
That single shift transforms performance.
High-converting whisky campaigns today position whisky as:
In practice, that means ads built around:
Moderation isn’t a compliance issue.
It’s a premium signal.
And premium signals convert better.
Young audiences don’t buy products.
They buy signals.
So your digital ads shouldn’t ask:
“Do you want whisky?”
They should answer:
“What kind of person drinks this whisky?”
Modern whisky buyers want to signal:
That means your advertising needs:
The distillery isn’t a location.
It’s a point of view.
Digital advertising performs best when it communicates that worldview consistently - across paid social, video, display, and search.
Identity-led messaging builds higher-intent audiences.
Higher intent leads to higher-value sales.
Your customer is not in a pub at 11pm.
They’re:
Yet too many whisky campaigns still sell:
Modern digital advertising should reposition whisky into new moments:
Think:
“One dram while the playlist finishes.”
Not:
“Another round.”
When ads reflect real life, relevance increases.
Relevance drives both traffic quality and conversion rate.
Less drinking doesn’t mean less spending.
It means better choices.
Digital advertising should lean into this reality, not fight it.
What sells now:
If someone drinks half as often but spends twice as much per occasion, you win.
This is where digital excels:
Scarcity beats volume.
Always has.
Whisky feels old when we let it freeze in amber.
To drive sales digitally, whisky needs to speak the language of:
This doesn’t mean chasing trends.
It means earning relevance.
Your ads shouldn’t interrupt culture.
They should belong to it.
That’s when CPMs drop, engagement rises, and paid media becomes efficient again.
There’s a line.
Stand on it.
Don’t sell escape.
Sell presence.
Don’t sell excess.
Sell intention.
Don’t sell nights people won’t remember.
Sell moments they will.
The strongest whisky campaigns don’t shout.
They don’t overpromise.
They don’t apologise.
They simply state:
“This is enough.”
That confidence is contagious — and commercially powerful.
Whisky brands that apply this thinking see:
Because they’re not fighting the cultural shift.
They’re built for it.
Distilleries aren’t closing because people stopped caring.
They’re closing because we kept telling the same story to an audience that changed.
Whisky survives - and sells - by becoming selective, not louder.
By becoming considered, not constant.
Because in a world that’s always on,
the rarest thing you can sell…
…is a reason to slow down.
At Behaviour Digital, we help whisky brands turn digital advertising into:
If you’re in the whisky industry and digital advertising feels noisy, inefficient, or misaligned - it’s not a media problem.
It’s a positioning problem.
And that’s where we do our best work. 🥃
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