- Friends of Laphroaig

The FOL website has always been housed within the main Laphroaig site, but is only accessible by members of the Friends of Laphroaig, a community of 450,000+ Laphroaig fans. The content available within FOL is unique and very different to the content available on the public site so we designed it in a way that visually represents that.

Each Friend of Laphroaig is given a lifetime’s lease on a square foot of land at the Laphroaig distillery on Islay. The grassy background on the FOL site symbolizes the plot of land and reminds FOLs that they are part of a community, and a part of Laphroaig itself.

Having managed the FOL eCRM for over 10 years, we were in the fortunate position of knowing what FOLs wanted from their new website. We gathered together all of the feedback that we have had over recent years and compiled a list of the best and most common suggestions. As a result we crafted the personalised FOL homepage, the whisky cabinet, the plots page, the events tool and much more.

The personalised homepage allows FOLs to determine which features of the site they want quick and easy access to; they can drag and drop elements or remove items they don’t use in order to create a homepage that is highly personal to them.

The whisky cabinet is a way for FOLs to document each expression of Laphroaig that they have sampled, and add notes, scores and tasting wheels as a visual reminder of their tasting experiences.

The plot page shows each FOL their plot of land as well as the surrounding plots. They can search the plots for other FOLs that share interests or live nearby. They can even compare notes on tastings that they have stored in their whisky cabinets. It’s an ideal way to get to know the neighbours!

The events tool allows FOLs to organise events and invite other FOLs to join them. So far it has been used to arrange social drinks between FOLs in their local pubs, as well as to notify FOLs of upcoming whisky shows and gatherings.