Ogilvy China today announced it has been selected by Inner Mongolia Mengtai Group Co., Ltd. (Mengtai Group) to lead brand strategy consulting for the company’s Mengtai Whiskey Distillery. Ogilvy Consulting will assist the Mengtai Whiskey Distillery to plan and launch a new Chinese whiskey brand, helping to establish China as one of the strong players of the international whiskey scene along the likes of Ireland, Scotland, the United States, Canada and Japan. 

China’s whiskey sector is undergoing rapid transformation, turning from simply being a “whiskey consumption market” into a “whiskey production region”. The Ordos plateau, situated in the southern part of Inner Mongolia and where the Mengtai Group’s distillery is based, is gifted with a similar climate as Scotland, making it an ideal region to launch a high-quality whiskey brand. In October 2021, the first batch of distillery equipment was manufactured in Scotland and shipped to Inner Mongolia for assembly, with operations expected to start in 2022, making Mengtai Distillery the first whiskey distillery in Inner Mongolia. 

Over the past three decades, Ogilvy China has been committed to supporting more Chinese companies in their global expansion journey. Ogilvy Consulting’s remit will focus on business strategy and consulting duties for the Mengtai Group, with the ambition to build first-class whiskey brand from the ground up. This includes market research, segmentation, product portfolio definition, as well as brand positioning, naming and visual identity.

Commenting on the announcement, Ao Bo, Vice Chairman and Vice President of the Mengtai Group, said: “Mengtai is truly passionate and committed to developing local Chinese whiskey brands. Through our cooperation with Ogilvy Consulting China, we have gained even more confidence about bringing this project to fruition. As whiskey enthusiasts, just like many other Chinese consumers, we are looking forward to being able to taste domestically produced whiskey. Leveraging Ogilvy Consulting China’s strong brand building capabilities, we believe we will be able to create a true world-leading Chinese whiskey brand and expand our footprint even further across the globe.”

Sandy Ng, President of Ogilvy Consulting in China, commented saying: “We are honored to be working with the Mengtai Group’s leadership team on this brand creation project, which truly exemplifies the breadth and depth of our Consulting offering, from data-led brand positioning and architecture design to product visual identity and naming, all the way to portfolio and integrated communications strategy.”

Chris Reitermann, Chief Executive Officer for Ogilvy Asia & Greater China added: “It is an immense pleasure to be partnering with the Mengtai Group to together pave a new way for the Chinese whiskey industry. The future is full of exciting opportunities in this category and as part of our focus on being the best platform and partner for growth for our clients, we look forward to leveraging our expertise in developing strong brands globally and in China to help the Mengtai Group build a strong and sustainable business for years to come.”

About Mengtai Group Co., Ltd

Based in Ordos, the Inner Mongolian city with a population of around two million, Mengtai was founded in 2001. The company now employs over 6,000 people, with total assets worth US$ 4.7 billion. This is Mengtai's first foray into the world of whiskey; the company posted a profit every year for the past two decades, successfully building a modern integrated “coal-electricity-aluminum-raw materials” industrial chain, with premium aluminum alloy production and deep processing as its strong leading business. In addition, Mengtai established a high value-added modern agriculture and livestock industrial chain to help alleviate rural poverty.

About Ogilvy

Ogilvy inspires brands and people to impact the world. We have been creating iconic, culture-changing, value-driving ideas for clients since David Ogilvy founded the company in 1948. We continue building on that rich legacy through our borderless creativity—operating, innovating, and creating at the intersection of talent and capabilities: our experts in Public Relations, Growth & Innovation, Advertising, Health, and Experience work fluidly across 132 offices in 82 countries to bring forth world-class creative solutions for our clients. Ogilvy is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY).