Ballantine’s Brasil x Fernando Volken Togni Partnership – Ballantine’s France (Dark Market)

Project lead at M&C Sport and Entertainment.

Overview

Ballantine’s sought to strengthen relevance and premium perception in France — a “dark market” with strict limitations on traditional alcohol advertising and media activation. To overcome these constraints, the brand required a culturally credible, non-traditional route to market that could drive awareness, desirability and commercial impact without reliance on paid advertising.

The solution was a cross-cultural partnership between Ballantine’s Brasil and acclaimed Brazilian designer Fernando Volken Togni, using design, storytelling and exclusivity to cut through regulatory barriers and cultural noise.

My Role

I led the end-to-end strategy, partnership development and market activation for the collaboration in France.

Key responsibilities included:

Market Strategy & Positioning: Defined the role of culture, design and exclusivity as the primary growth levers in a restricted market.

Partnership Development: Identified, secured and managed the collaboration with Fernando Volken Togni, ensuring cultural credibility and premium alignment.

Creative & Brand Governance: Oversaw the translation of Brazilian design codes into a product and narrative that resonated with French premium spirits consumers.

Activation & Go-to-Market: Led the non-traditional launch strategy across experiential, influencer and earned-led channels.

Stakeholder Alignment: Worked across global, regional and local teams to ensure regulatory compliance, brand consistency and commercial focus.

Strategy & Execution

The partnership was designed to operate entirely outside traditional advertising frameworks, using design-led storytelling and controlled scarcity to drive impact.

Limited-Edition Product & Packaging:

Created exclusive Ballantine’s packaging designed by Fernando Volken Togni

Blended Brazilian artistic expression with Ballantine’s heritage cues

Positioned as a collectible, premium object rather than a promotional SKU

Influencer & Cultural Seeding:

Activated high-end lifestyle, art and design influencers in France

Focused on tastemakers rather than mass reach, prioritising credibility and peer endorsement

Experiential Launch Model:

Hosted intimate, invitation-only events for media, cultural figures and industry stakeholders

Combined art, design storytelling and premium tasting to immerse audiences in the brand world

Digital & Earned Content:

Developed high-impact visual content telling the collaboration story

Distributed through influencer channels, digital PR and organic social

Maximised word-of-mouth and earned visibility within regulatory limits

Results & Impact

Brand Perception Uplift: Strengthened Ballantine’s positioning in France as culturally progressive, design-led and premium.

Dark Market Breakthrough: Demonstrated how cultural partnerships can replace traditional media in highly restricted markets.

High-Quality Engagement: Delivered strong influencer and social engagement with positive sentiment and advocacy.

Commercial Contribution: Limited-edition product drove consumer interest and supported sales performance in the premium segment.

Repeatable Model: Established a scalable framework for future dark-market activations using culture, design and experience as growth drivers.

Strategic Takeaways

Dark Markets Require Different Economics: When paid media is restricted, culture, design and partnerships become primary growth levers.

Cultural Credibility Drives Trust: Cross-cultural collaborations can unlock relevance faster than traditional brand messaging.

Exclusivity Fuels Demand: Limited-edition products, when rooted in authentic storytelling, drive advocacy and commercial momentum.

Earned-First Strategy Works at Scale: Influencer, experiential and earned media can outperform paid channels when strategically governed.