Maker’s Mark is a $1 billion global brand, but we were only making our mark with the conventional whiskey audience. We’d told authentic and interesting stories about our history and our handmade process, but given our size and ubiquity, those kinds of stories just weren’t breaking through with the next generation of drinkers. They didn’t see us as unique, authentic, or interesting enough and were gravitating to the newest craft bourbons in this cluttered category.

We needed to change perception of Maker’s Mark among this next generation of drinkers in order to improve purchase intent. In order to do so we needed to connect with them on their terms so they would see that we are as authentic as smaller whiskey brands that had already earned their affection.

This next generation of drinkers is dramatically different than our current fans. Not only are they younger, they are much more multicultural with complex identities that encompass their race, culture, passions, and professions. They recognize the uniqueness in their identities and believe it is the “AND” in them, the mash-up of who they are, that makes them interesting and special.

We believe that Maker’s Mark is similarly interesting and special, but conventional methods of telling that story were not going to work. The idyllic and oversimplified “great man theory” of whiskey history was not going to fly.

In order to connect with this multi-dimensional generation of drinkers, we needed to find kindred spirits in today’s culture that could connect the stories of our past to relevance today.

Maker’s Mark’s “AND” opportunity was the world of food. The passion for food marries well with the passion and care Maker’s Mark puts into their bourbon

The food landscape is dominated by authority figures, like Bon Appetit and Food Network, but we knew these partners would do nothing but reinforce our mass, average status. We instead turned to ChefsFeed, a gritty content platform produced by chefs and revered by food-obsessed millennials exploring the diverse boundaries of cuisine.

We didn’t go the obvious route of having chefs talk about our credentials, nor did we ask them to describe their own process or origin story. Rather, we highlighted the complexities of chefs’ identities, producing content that explored what these chefs do by hand, inside their restaurant and out, and how all the aspects of their identity shape who they are today. And the chefs selected reflected the diversity of our target.

Our unique stories came to life via custom video and podcast series that subtly reinforced Maker’s Mark hand-crafted credentials and were promoted primarily via the chefs themselves on social.

The Made by Hand videos feature chefs who devote themselves to handmade labors of love like Maya-Camille Broussard who makes pies - and miniatures and Behzad Jamshidi who revels in the sanctuary of bread making.

The Makers podcasts centered on how each chef’s complex identity comes to life through their cuisine, and how their complexity is the sum of their origins and experiences. Topics such as The Next Evolution of Mexican Cuisine set the table for these discussions.

The program culminated in an event at the Maker’s Mark distillery, where we exposed chefs and fans to our stories in a way that allowed them to explore on their own and find their own personal connections to the brand.

By moving away from conventional whiskey stories in favor of stories of identity, Marker’s Mark made its mark.

Attitudinal research showed viewers found the content interesting and authentic, and we improved purchase intent by 8 percentage points.

Our Made by Hand video series was 26% more effective and delivered a 10% increase in ROI vs. brand creative. Plus, our event at the distillery attracted the widest and most diverse mix of people the distillery had ever seen.