Diageo unveils its first bottle Personalization experience, fueled by generative AI

Johnnie Walker Princes Street, the World’s Leading Spirit Tourism Experience, is inviting guests to discover Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith, a Generative AI-powered experience that allows guests to co-design a personalized bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Only available at the Edinburgh venue, the experience is set to run from August 1-31 2024, and is believed to be the first ever to combine world-class Scotch whisky, art, and AI.

The experience will prompt visitors to answer three simple questions that will influence key themes in Scottish artist Scott Naismith’s work, ultimately impacting their bottle design. The simple prompts will generate various colors, locations, artistic styles, and times of day, resulting in a unique bottle that will be printed in a matter of minutes.

The experience is powered by ‘Project Halo’, a Diageo Breakthrough Innovation that allows brands and consumers to co-create personalized label designs/product artwork. The technology, powered by Generative AI, empowers consumers to co-create designs on Diageo products in a way that is bespoke to them and relevant to the worlds they are passionate about.

The launch comes as consumers increasingly search for unique experiences and products that signal belonging, status, and personality, whether it’s for themselves or others. Consumers are going beyond the most up-to-date cultural movements, seeking things that feel entirely original, with personalization now a necessity.

Diageo’s Breakthrough Innovation team is committed to actively looking for partners to collaborate with to test and learn Breakthrough ideas. ‘Project Halo’ continues this commitment, with Diageo partnering with industry-leading experts, including Phantom, Amazon AWS, Hybrid Software, GMG and Roland DG. For example, Diageo has leveraged the latest developments in Generative AI through Amazon’s Titan bedrock model, which ensures the ethical protection of artist work whilst allowing consumers to co-create.

The Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith experience will be available for a limited time, and guests will be able to access it with every purchase of Johnnie Walker Blue Label in the venue’s retail store throughout August. The bottle design element can be complemented at no extra charge by a bookable expert-led tasting of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, as well as a guided tasting of the incredibly special limited edition Johnnie Walker Blue Label ‘Elusive Umami’, in the rooftop Explorers’ Bothy bar.

Will Harvey, senior global innovation manager at Diageo, added, “This is the first pilot in a wider platform that the Breakthrough Innovation team is exploring, looking at how we can use AI responsibly to enable co-collaboration between fans and artists. Demand for personalization shows no signs of slowing down, so we’re delighted to offer the chance to create one-of-a-kind AI-enabled designs with Scott. With Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s previous experience of using AI to enhance customer experiences, it’s the perfect place for us to launch this innovative offer to the world.”

Rob Maxwell, head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, said, “Since opening, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has striven to become a leader in using the power of AI to personalize guests’ experiences. Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith is an exciting new step in our commitment to offering those with various tastes and interests something completely different from what’s available in the whisky experience market. This partnership is a true one-of-a-kind, and we can’t wait to see the designs our guests will print on their bottles.”