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O'Driscolls Irish Whiskey

From Startup to Ireland’s Fastest-Growing Whiskey Exporter in Just 18 Months

At a glance

Client: O'Driscolls Irish Whiskey
Industry: Alcohol & Beverage | Spirits & Distilling
Services:

Full Digital Growth Solutions Website & eCommerce Brand & Product Launch Pitch, Sales & Investor Decks

  • O’Driscoll’s came to us with little more than a bottle, a label and an ambitious plan to build a serious challenger brand in Irish whiskey — capable of taking on established household names at home and internationally.

    With no in-house brand, marketing or digital team, they needed one partner capable of taking ownership of the wider commercial challenge — from brand activation and eCommerce to content, campaigns, sales materials and international market support.

    The brief was to help turn that ambition into a market-ready, export-ready business: build the brand around the product, create the digital and commercial tools needed to support sales, and give distributors, retailers, sales teams and investors the assets they needed to grow.

  • UBC delivered a Full Digital Growth Solutions programme across brand, digital, content, marketing and sales, effectively acting as O’Driscoll’s outsourced growth team over 18 months. We built the multinational eCommerce presence, created photography, video and campaign assets, managed social media and paid activity, and developed market-specific campaigns for Europe, Africa and North America.

    Those campaigns were tailored to different audiences, product formats and routes to market, while UBC also produced investor and sales decks, retailer and distributor collateral, exhibition assets, and a global commercial partner portal giving international teams access to approved brand, marketing and sales resources.

  • In 18 months, O’Driscoll’s grew from an early-stage Irish whiskey brand into an international challenger, exporting 100,000+ cases and securing distribution across Ireland, the UK, Europe, Africa and North America.

    The brand also secured €1.25m in funding, supporting a reported valuation of approximately €5m.

    The brand expanded into major retail and on-trade channels, including Tesco, SuperValu and Dunnes Stores, while building a global commercial partner network supported by a dedicated partner portal containing approved product sheets, sales materials, media kits, brand assets, social content and marketing resources for distributors and retailers worldwide.

Challenge

O’Driscoll’s was entering a fiercely competitive Irish whiskey market dominated by household names with deeper budgets, stronger distribution and established consumer trust. At the same time, international growth meant navigating different audiences, bottle sizes, ABV requirements, import/export considerations and routes to market across Europe, Africa and North America.

With long maturation cycles and no large in-house brand or marketing team, the business needed to build credibility, demand and commercial infrastructure quickly — without losing consistency as it scaled.

Research & Discovery

We benchmarked the Irish whiskey category across competitor brands, websites, social media, product ranges, packaging, merchandising and market positioning to understand where O’Driscoll’s could credibly compete — and where it needed to behave differently.

The research informed everything from challenger-brand positioning and visual direction to content, campaigns, digital experience, product presentation and commercial sales materials across multiple markets.

Brand System

We turned O’Driscoll’s brand vision into a consistent, recognisable system built to work across markets, channels and sales environments. Over 150 original designs were created across packaging, point of sale, vehicle wraps, tasting notes, promotional materials, exhibition assets, digital content and retail applications.

The result was a premium challenger brand that could show up consistently across consumer, retail, distributor and commercial touchpoints — whether on shelf, online, at events or in international markets.

  • Two green boxes of O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey, one with a golden logo of a mythical creature and the other with a minimal design, both with white text and gold accents.
  • A graphic illustration of a hand forming a heart shape with a whiskey bottle, with the text "WE'RE all O'DRISCOLL'S!" at the top and "O'DRISCOLL'S IRISH WHISKEY" at the bottom.
  • Three bottles of O'Driscoll Irish whiskey against a black background, labeled for Africa, EU/UK, and USA markets with varying bottle sizes and alcohol content.
  • A green bottle of Irish whiskey next to a green box with gold and white accents.
  • Instructions for making an Old Fashioned cocktail, with a bottle of O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey, a glass of prepared drink, and a list of ingredients.
  • Alcohol tasting notes for O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey, including scent, palate, and finish, with a bottle of whiskey on the right.
  • A promotional poster for O'Driscole Irish Whiskey displaying bottle details, tasting notes, and a call to visit Europe Partner Packs, with icons and QR code for more info.
  • Illustrated recipe for a cocktail called "The Dirty Donkey" with ingredients including 40ml of a spirit, 15ml of lime juice, wedges of fresh lime, 4 teaspoons of sugar, 100ml of ginger beer, and fresh mint.
  • Recipe for Cherry & Ginger Sour cocktail with illustrated ingredients: lemon juice, cherry bitters, orgeat, ginger syrup, fresh cherries, egg white, and a cocktail glass.
  • Illustration of a whiskey sour cocktail recipe with five ingredients: whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, and angostura bitters, depicted with drawings of bottles and a drink glass on a dark background.
  • Illustrated recipe for a Blue Moon cocktail with ingredients listed and depicted, including blueberry purĂ©e, lemon juice, simple syrup, lemonade, soda water, blueberries, and a lemon wedge.
  • Four black banner advertisements for O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey featuring a whiskey bottle, with the tagline "Taste the Wild Atlantic Spirit" and images of a glass of whiskey and mythical Irish figures.
  • Packaging of O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey with a green box featuring gold accents and a profile illustration of a man's face.
  • A dark green background with white line drawings of a pirate skeleton holding a sword and a bottle, and a fishing lure, along with playful pirate-themed phrases like 'Learn to say hello,' 'Ahoy,' 'Avast ye,' 'Sink me!,' and 'Yo ho ho.'
  • World map showing continents with three coins placed on Africa and Europe, logo of O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey in the bottom left corner.
  • Bottle of Irish whiskey named O Driscoll, along with tasting notes describing the flavor profile, color, nose, palate, and finish.
  • Brochure promoting O' Driscola Irish Whiskey with a bottle image and information about the whiskey, including features, benefits, and weekly sales savings.
  • Icons of a sailboat, cocktail glass with a shrimp, beer bottle, glass with ice, beer barrels, and a smoking pipe.
  • Design blueprint of a Toyota HiAce 200 Super GL van featuring branding for Irish whiskey, O'Driscoll's, with measurements and multiple views including side, front, rear, and top.
  • An advertisement poster featuring a bottle of Irish whiskey, the brand name O'Driscoll, and a woman with curly hair wearing a white dress, standing against a white background with the text 'Triple Distilled, Levels to Smooth'.
  • Advertisement for O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey featuring a bottle and a glass of whiskey, with text indicating availability in several locations, and a search bar at the bottom.
  • Business cards for O'Driscol Irish Whiskey featuring a gold illustration of a bearded man with flowing hair, dark green background, with contact details and QR codes for each of three individuals.
  • A modern bus shelter with an advertisement for O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey on the side panel, featuring a large bottle of whiskey, and a wooden bench inside.
  • Advertisement poster for O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey with a green background, a large whiskey bottle, and text promoting the whiskey as triple distilled and smooth.
  • A green backdrop with gold logos and text that reads "O'BRISCOLL" and "Irish Whiskey," supported by a metal frame.
  • Two wooden barrels labeled 'O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey,' with one barrel lying on its side displaying a lion logo on its bottom.
  • Collage of green bottles of Irish whiskey labeled O'DRISCOLL with a green and black background, featuring the text "TRIPLE DISTILLED LEVELS TO SMOOTH".

Art Direction

We developed a distinctive visual language for O’Driscoll’s across multiple shoots, combining product, cocktail, lifestyle, people and location photography to give the brand depth well beyond the bottle.

From warehouse portraits and product photography to pub, beach and cocktail shoots, every setting was art-directed to build a premium challenger brand with a flexible image library for campaigns, social media, eCommerce, retail, sales materials and international marketing.

Video Production & Reels

We planned, art-directed and produced a broad suite of video content for O’Driscoll’s — from behind-the-scenes distillation films and cocktail sizzlers to short-form campaign reels and international promotional content.

The result was a flexible bank of premium video assets designed to work across multiple commercial and digital touchpoints.

Visual Storytelling

We built a distinctive content system around O’Driscoll’s photography, brand identity and tone of voice, creating campaign content that could work consistently across social media and wider digital channels.

Themes ranged from Wild Atlantic Spirit and whiskey education to cocktails, people, heritage, seasonal moments and international campaigns — giving the brand a recognisable, repeatable way to communicate across different audiences and markets.

  • A black-and-white photo of a woman and a man standing close together outdoors during sunset, with text overlay reading 'JUST THE THREE OF US! That's what love is all about.' The woman is wearing a dark top with messy hair, and the man is wearing a tank top and a cap, holding a bottle of liquor.
  • Collage of images related to whiskey production and tasting, including a man tasting whiskey, a whiskey recipe, barley grains, barrels, distillery workers, whiskey bottles, tasting notes sketch, two people tasting whiskey, a field of barley, and whiskey bottles on a table.
  • Green background with white text that reads "We're all O'Driscolls!" above an illustration of two hands forming a heart shape. At the bottom, it says "O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey."
  • 4th of July celebration with a guide dog holding an American flag, a bottle of whiskey, and the U.S. Capitol building in the background.
  • Black background with a glass of whiskey and ice cubes at the bottom center. Text at the top says 'Your Pot of Gold' and 'Happy St. Patrick's Day'. A decorative monogram is at the bottom.
  • Illustration of Big Ben with cartoon arms hugging a bottle of whisky labeled 'Riscous' and the text 'London Calling' at the top.
  • A collage of images showing the process of making and tasting whiskey. Includes pouring whiskey, ingredients for cherry and ginger sour, people holding glasses of whiskey, a person chopping wood, whiskey bottles, and people enjoying whiskey tasting.
  • An advertisement for O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey featuring a green whiskey bottle with a black label, set against a stylized drawing of a cityscape with tall buildings and palm trees, and colorful torn paper background at the top.
  • A graphic celebrating International Women's Day featuring a line drawing of a woman with wavy hair, holding a rope attached to a bottle of O'Drisco Irish Whiskey, with the text "Happy International Women's Day!"
  • Poster promoting Uganda tourism featuring a collage of a black-and-white photo of a group of people and a vehicle, with a large bottle of Irish whiskey on top, and with text in a foreign language and English inviting partnership with O'Driscoll's.
  • Collage of images showing whiskey ingredients, a team of workers, whiskey pouring, barrels, bottles of whiskey, and people tasting whiskey, with a tasting notes card.
  • Vintage black and white photo of women celebrating at a Christmas gathering, with some women wearing bandanas and sunglasses, sitting around a table with drinks, and one woman standing on the table pouring a drink.
  • Collage of images related to whiskey production and tasting, including ingredients like cherry bitters and ginger sour, distillery scenes, a person tasting whiskey, whiskey bottles, a whiskey glass, and a whiskey barrel, with a tasting notes card and whiskey field.
  • A black flag with a white outline draw of a person's face and hair, and the words 'SuperValu.' Below the flag, on a textured background, is written 'O'Driscolls has landed!'
  • A bottle of O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey with a small green leprechaun hat on the neck, set against a dark green background. Text above the bottle says, 'You don't need luck when you already have O'Driscoll's. Happy St. Patrick's Day.'
  • A digital illustration features a smartphone with a Christmas playlist on Spotify, held by a hand wearing a red mitten with snowflake patterns, against a textured white background. There is a small Christmas hat on top of the phone, and a decorative
  • A word search puzzle asking where to drink O'Driscolls this year, with a dark green background and a tattoo-style skull graphic. The puzzle contains several scrambled words.
  • A St. Patrick's Day greeting featuring a skeleton with a cowboy hat, shamrock, and a gold coin, with the text 'Celebrate St. Patrick's Day the pirate way.'
  • Graphic design of a Christmas drink with ice cubes, a red scarf, and game controller-shaped marshmallows next to a smartphone displaying a Spotify playlist titled "Golden Christmas - O’Driscoll's Original" with Christmas-themed songs.

Global eCommerce Platform

UBC built O’Driscoll’s global direct-to-consumer eCommerce platform, combining multi-market, multi-currency selling with drop-shipping into key international territories including North America.

Built mobile-first on Squarespace, the site brought together our brand system, photography, content and product storytelling in one seamless customer experience, while connecting into the wider commercial infrastructure supporting distributors and retail partners worldwide.

Global Commercial Partner Portal

As O’Driscoll’s expanded across Europe, the UK, North America and Africa, we built a gated commercial partner portal to give distributors and market teams one consistent source of truth for the brand.

From logos, brand guidelines and social media playbooks to video, sales and marketing assets and tool kits, the portal helped partners access approved materials quickly — protecting tone of voice, positioning and brand consistency as the business scaled internationally.

  • A website displayed on a laptop screen promoting O'Driscolls Irish Whiskey, featuring a bottle of whiskey, a glass with whiskey, and navigation options for different stores.
  • Laptop screen displaying O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey commercial partner portal with options for EU, UK, USA, and Africa.
  • Screenshot of O'Driscoll's commercial partner portal website, showing two people sitting on a rocky beach during sunset, with navigation menu and buttons for product sheet and media kit.
  • A digital screen displaying a marketing assets page for O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey, with sections for logos, videos, social media, and images, each with a download button.
  • Three smartphones displaying different pages of a whiskey brand's website, featuring Irish whiskey bottles, a group of people, and whiskey packaging.
  • A woman with long hair and tattoos holding a glass of whiskey at the beach, with a man partially visible behind her, on a MacBook Air screen.
  • Three mobile screens displaying Irish whiskey brand O'Driscoll's website and promotional content.
  • A computer screen displaying a black background with gold and white text, an image of a whiskey bottle, and headings about whiskey and its maturation process.
  • Three mobile phone screens displaying a website for O'Driscoll Irish Whiskey. The left and right screens show product and history pages, respectively. The middle screen shows a woman and a man with text inviting to join the O'Driscoll clan.
  • Four people in a whiskey distillery hold bottles and tools, smiling. The background contains shelves with barrels. The top of the screen reads: 'We believe great people make great whiskey.'
  • Three vertical digital advertisements for O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey, a cocktail, and company history, featuring a whiskey bottle, a cocktail glass with lime, and informational text.
  • Laptop screen displaying a webpage about cocktails, featuring images of three different cocktails and a bottle of whiskey.
  • A MacBook Air displaying a Spotify playlist titled 'ODIW Spotify Playlists' with a picture of three friends laughing and sharing drinks, and a yellow button labeled 'Listen Now'.
  • A computer screen displaying a website for O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey, featuring a glass of whiskey with ice, and navigation options like About Us, History, Our Whiskey, Cocktails, Join our Clan, and buttons for US Store and Sip Now.
  • A man wearing a flat cap and red shirt tasting a glass of whiskey with tasting notes displayed on a laptop screen.
  • A computer screen displaying a cocktail recipe titled "The Dirty Donkey" with a picture of a mojito cocktail garnished with mint and lime.
  • Laptop screen displaying a menu of six Irish whiskey cocktails with images and names.
  • Laptop screen displaying a cocktail recipe titled "How to Make a Dirty Donkey" with step-by-step instructions and a photo of a cocktail in a glass with lime slices, mint, and a bottle of O'Driscoll Irish whiskey beside it.
  • Screenshot of a video on a laptop screen showing an elderly man with gray hair and a checkered shirt under a gray sweater. The background shows a bookshelf. Below the video, text reads "Older Than Ireland" and a brief biography mentions he was born in 1918, before the Irish Free State was established.
  • A television screen displaying a group of three friends toasting with drinks, with music playlist details overlaid.

Africa Market Entry & Campaign Activation

UBC supported O’Driscoll’s expansion into Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, developing market-specific campaign strategies, messaging and creative adapted to local audiences and routes to market.

The work extended across social content, merchandise, POS, product displays and physical brand activation — giving commercial partners a practical toolkit to launch and build the brand consistently across new African markets.

“Keith, I really appreciate the honest quality of work you’ve done in respect of telling our story through O’Driscolls. You really got my inspiration. You’ve played a key role—the quality of your work is on par with our brand identities. Thanks for your amazing work on the project this year, it’s been exactly what I needed. Great job!

Michael Stafford | CEO O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey & Stafford Bonded

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