CHIVAS REGAL EMBRACES CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY TO LAUNCH MSN TV CHANNEL

In an exciting new initiative two leading global brands, Chivas Regal, the dynamic Scotch whisky flagship brand of Chivas Brothers, and global software maker Microsoft have partnered to launch an online broadband TV channel. The “This is the Life” channel, inspired by Chivas Regal, will feature original programming that brings to life the Chivas Life – the brand’s aspirational lifestyle platform - on Microsoft’s MSN website from June 2007.

The channel, which is accessible via the MSN website or by visiting www.thisisthelife.msn.com, will feature various ways to find the best experiences that life has to offer and focus on the 2007 search for Chivas Life Ambassadors and the Ambassadors’ resulting adventures. For the couple selected, the appointment is the job of a lifetime. As Chivas Life Ambassadors, they will spend the next 12 months representing the brand and travelling the globe in search of the extraordinary experiences that define the ‘Chivas Life’ - all they have to do is share their adventures online with the rest of the world.

2007 marks the third year of the ‘Search for the Chivas Life’ and with the creation of the Chivas online broadband channel on MSN, the programme is bigger than ever. As well as being a first for Chivas Regal, the exclusive partnership, in which Chivas will work directly with Microsoft content developers, is also a brand new initiative for MSN.

Gayle Troberman, general manager of the Global Branded Entertainment and Experiences Team at MSN, explains: “This partnership shows Chivas’ commitment to its position as a leader by creating a truly innovative online destination. Microsoft’s innovative platform offers a lifestyle icon like Chivas Regal a unique way to deeply engage their consumers’ values, interacting with the real essence of the brand.”

The Chivas Life Ambassadors will update the “This is the Life” channel on MSN with a videolog of their experiences on a weekly basis. Viewers from around the world will be able to choose what they want to watch on the channel, which will include clips of the aspirational worldwide events that make up the Chivas Life Series such as Snow Golf and Sailing.

The Chivas Life Ambassadors were selected from hundreds of applicants after a lengthy recruitment process in the USA. The applicants were invited to attend interviews at one of the five new ‘Chivas Studios’, located in New York, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami before progressing to a final held in Los Angeles. The Chivas Life Ambassadors are officially employed by Pernod Ricard USA and paid $200,000 to travel as international representatives of the brand. Their duties will include interacting with international and domestic media, recording their adventures online, hosting mentoring events and attending exclusive Chivas Life events in far-flung locations.

Martin Riley, International Marketing Director at brand owner Chivas Brothers, said: “Chivas Regal’s partnership with MSN is an incredibly exciting initiative for the brand. It offers a great new platform through which to bring our aspirational Chivas Life consumer campaign to life. The online channel and the Chivas Life Ambassadors create opportunities for consumers to experience the brand and strongly communicate Chivas Regal’s core brand proposition ‘Appetite for Life’ to a wide global audience.”

The integrated ‘Chivas Life’ consumer campaign has now been rolled out in over 150 markets around the world, creating a truly consistent global communication platform. It is a measure of the campaign’s success that the ‘Chivas Life’ has become synonymous with a lifestyle to which many Scotch whisky consumers the world over now aspire. Chivas Regal 12 was also named as the most prestigious Scotch whisky in the world according to a recent international Synovate survey and voted as the UK’s coolest whisky brand 2006 by cutting edge style gurus Superbrands.