top of page
TELLING STORIES...
72%
advertising recall
+41%
brand recall
+89%
increase in Ambassador memberships
increase in case depletion
+29%
67%
of all 3-year goals met within 6 months
1/3
SEEING RED
The landscape in the bourbon category is changing radically.
Small batch has become the rage, and distillers have flooded the market accordingly - from large brand spin-offs (Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, Basil Hayden, etc.) to small batch originals, such as Blanton's and Buffalo Trace. Bottles come in new shapes, complete with wood box packaging, fancy pewter tops, and antiqued labeling. They are 'exclusive,' 'reserved,' and...well...pretty arrogant.
Enter Maker's Mark, an original decades-old small batch that has consistently produced bourbon with a fun and irreverent spin. In fact, since the brand's inception, Maker's has used its trademark red wax as the brand's calling card. But, with so many new and emerging bourbon drinkers clamoring to a category that's being defined by the exclusivity of the big brand spin-offs, the once clever, pithy, and fun, "red wax" Maker's Mark now risks coming across as trite, gimmicky, and immature.
The brand management team has identified a new positioning for the brand that they feel is both strong and defensible: "Premium, yet unpretentious." But how do we bring that to life? How can we convey that new direction without (A) falling into that same sea of arrogant exclusivity or (B) losing our authenticity?
This effort, we explain to the brand management team, won't just require a different direction for Maker's Mark, but a completely different approach to brand development.
Click the image above for a few examples of historic
Maker's Mark ads.
LET THE IMMERSION BEGIN...
9
weeks
markets
14
bars
28
33
liquor stores
bourbon drinkers
1,100+
Diving into the data: We start with secondary research first, learning a ton from the definitive data source at the time, the Adams Guide - Distribution numbers, drinker profiles, and statistical insights from across the spectrum of brown spirits.
Next, we want to dive into primary research to build a 3D understanding of the emerging bourbon drinker. It's not an easy start.
Need #1: We need to get beyond the brand: A problem we face in marketing (and especially advertising) is that we always seek to put the brand first. That is, we egotistically (A) seek to understand how our brand fits into the broader landscape of the category, or at the very least, (B) seek to understand how the consumer fits into our brand's story. Sadly, as much as we marketing folks prattle on and on about putting the consumer first, the consumer actually ends up getting lost in the shuffle.
Need #2: We need to see the smaller picture: I want to do things differently. Regardless of what brands they chose, I instead want to dig deep to understand...
-
What draws this drinker to the category...and what keeps them here?
-
What does choosing the bourbon category say about them?
-
How do they see themselves, as well as other bourbon drinkers.?
-
What does not choosing this category say about non-bourbon drinkers?
Need #3: Boots on the ground: I call it "Bar Nights," a type of in-person, informal research I originally designed for the agency's tobacco clients. We quickly realize this approach is also ideal for the spirits category...and especially for this particular business problem. Together with my research partner and boss, Jim White, we travel to markets all across the country, narrowing in on bars and package stores that - according to distributors - move a lot of brown spirits (in other words, target rich environments). We are also accompanied by supportive and dynamic account leaders like Todd Spencer and Michelle Heffernan, who are also learning in real-time.
​
-
By day, we intercept shoppers in liquor stores. We take them through short surveys, personal interviews, shop-alongs, and brand perceptual mapping.
​
-
By night, we visit 'brown spirits bars.' We park ourselves in a dark corner, and identify/recruit patrons to join us. In exchange for drinks, food, and cash, our participants take short surveys, rate and rank brands, engage in perceptual mapping, conduct image tears (selections), and perform a host of other research activities.
Day after day, night after night, we build a more and more detailed POV of the category, the brands, and the modern / emerging bourbon drinker.
By the time we finish, we have a very clear idea of where we are...and where we need to go.
Understanding the 'Arrival' Audience...
Imagine an early-to-mid-thirties bourbon consumer who is in the process of 'arriving.' Well into his career. A couple of promotions under his belt. A better car. A nicer home. A burgeoning family. Having accomplished all of this, he is now asking himself, 'With all that's evolving in my life and with how far I've come, why am I still choosing the same brands from my binge-drinking youth?'
Okay...so, small batch is the way to go, but the small batch category has been overrun by a plethora of labels that are simply expensive extensions of mass market brands. Indeed, our research confirms: Instead of intentionally selecting a favorite brand, a large majority of our drinkers have more or less "settled" for whatever is nearby!
At his core, our 'arriving' bourbon drinker truly wants a unique brand that reflects how he sees himself. Premium, but unpretentious. Individual. Confident. Down-to-earth. Crystal clear. Strong and confident. A brand that reflects his achievement...his ascent...his arrival...his own maturity, with classic definitions of being a gentlemen: Poised, assured, reliable, solid, and trustworthy.
"When the bourbon comes out, things get serious."
At the center of this experience we uncover three powerful elements: Occasions, Relationships, and Conversations. Research participants quickly and clearly distinguish the vast difference between beer, wine, and white spirits occasions (which tend to be light, informal, and more superficial) and the hallmarks of a bourbon Occasion (deeper, more meaningful, more intimate). This, then, fosters Conversations that are equally and uniquely meaningful. These facets of bourbon, in turn, are elements that both build and reinforce deep and long-lasting Relationships.
All three of these absolutely shape the consumer's self-perception and shape his choice of brands. All three have actually evolved with the consumer and are continuing to evolve.
But, what really blew my mind...
Finding an insight this powerful is like finding diamonds just laying on a busy sidewalk. I mean, our competitors must see this, too, right? How can you miss it? But, as I looked around the category, all I see are brands obsessed with talking about themselves...or trying to creatively shout over other competitors. As a result, they have completely lost touch with the core connective tissue of the category.
​
Once again..consumer s have found themselves playing second fiddle to the brand story.
1/10
THE BRAND CATALYST: "STORIES"
What an opportunity! To own the very core attributes of the category. To embody the very reasons someone chooses bourbon as their beverage. It is unique, defensible, and motivating. Most of all, this presents a first-mover advantage for the brand.
Created from our 'jump ball' process, the campaign distills those stories and leverages Occasions, Relationships, and Conversations. Equally, the campaign also employs colors and key designs, that have been revealed through our research.
Tapping into the amazing direct marketing leadership of Ray Radford, and thanks to collaboration across departments, we also use the small-but-growing Maker's Mark Ambassador program to invite our fans to share their stories. What we get back is pure gold. Most every story reveals how bourbon's unique Occasions fuel Conversations and reinforces those Relationships.
MAKING THE CONNECTION
Occasions, Relationships, and Conversations is more than a messaging framework - it is our strategic infrastructure. We look less and less for party-themed brand activation and instead turn to more serious activities that define and/or help expand and deepen those relationships and conversations.
With the Ambassador program, we not only invite consumers to experience the brand more deeply, but we also leverage their relationships (and push our exclusivity) by encouraging consumers to "nominate" someone for membership. At one point, working with our fantastic interactive leader Kirk Hilbrecht, we create a meta-data-driven relationship map (years before Facebook and Instagram), that guide who we approach and how - and which relationships yield the greatest productivity.
PERFORMANCE
By the end of the initial media period...
-
Advertising recall reaches 72%
-
Brand recall increases by +41%
-
Ambassador memberships increases by more than +89%
-
Case depletions grow by +29%
-
Ultimately, the Maker's Mark team surpasses 67% of our total 3-year goals, all within the first 180 days - results that garner the team a 2002-2003 North American Effie Award for superior marketplace performance
POST-SCRIPT: IMITATION - THE MOST SINCERE FORM OF FLATTERY
As droves of 'arrival' drinkers flock to Maker's Mark, large production bourbons are desperate to defend their market share. The following year, mass bourbon brand Jim Beam launches their "Real Friends. Real Bourbon" ad campaign - apparently trying to leverage their own version of Occasions, Relationships, and Conversations.
Click on the image (right), take a look at the ads. See what you think:
-
Does this reflect the seriousness of our 'arrival' audience?
-
Are they getting away from a 'binge-drinking' reputation?​
-
Or is this campaign simply a throwback to drunken frat boys behaving badly?
Of course, if you can't beat 'em...buy 'em. Maker's Mark would be purchased by Beam's holding company less than five years later.
1/7
bottom of page