A central hub for and in-depth Scotch whisky education is not easily accessible for most business owners in the spirits industry. In developing “Dram Good Scotch,” our main goal was to empower our customers with comprehensive knowledge of our Scotch whisky portfolio, helping them educate consumers in a way that cultivates an understanding–an appreciation–of the story of the spirit, and ultimately, drive sales. To do this, we created a best-in-class microsite that served as a digital toolkit for our customers, which included detailed information regarding Scotch regions, styles and distilleries.

The “Dram Good Scotch” microsite, email and social media posts were delivered to customers in early December, the primetime for gifting season.

The microsite included industry-relevant Scotch information, including:

• 6 detailed breakdowns of each Scotland Scotch region

• 7 detailed breakdowns of each Scotch style, including:

o Malt whisky

o Grain whisky

o Single malt

o Single grain

o Blended Scotch whisky

o Blended grain

o Blended malt

• 13 different detailed breakdowns of each Breakthru market’s available Scotch distilleries, including:

o Arizona – 16 distilleries

o Colorado – 15 distilleries

o D.C. – 16 distilleries

o Delaware – 7 distilleries

o Florida – 4 distilleries

o Illinois – 15 distilleries

o Maryland – 20 distilleries

o Minnesota – 11 distilleries

o New Jersey – 8 distilleries

o Nevada – 3 distilleries

o Pennsylvania – 11 distilleries

o South Carolina – 16 distilleries

o Wisconsin – 5 distilleries

“Dram Good Scotch” was a very successful email campaign for Breakthru. One of the main brands featured in the program–Lagavulin–enjoyed a strong sales bump after customers received “DGS.” Nielsen statistics show the Scotch sold 30% more cases in December 2016 than during the same time in 2015. Other brands, such as Balvenie (108 more cases sold*), appreciated the extra pours as well, helping the year-over-year Scotch whisky sales increase of nearly 10%.*

Customers responded positively to “Dram Good Scotch,” delivering impressive campaign metrics, including:

• 20%+ Open Rate – higher than average campaign

• 10%+ Click Rate – higher than average campaign

The goal was to help customers benefit from this growing trend, and Breakthru’s detailed approach to educating customers about Scotch whisky helped drive sales for not only the customer, but for the Scotch whisky category as a whole.

*Nielsen Statistics