What I learned about bourbon in Kentucky
I’m in lovely Lexington, Kentucky today giving a workshop for nonprofits. It’s hard to miss the horses here, along with the bourbon. In fact, one of the participants here today, George Cherry from Red Bird Mission handed me two business cards. The first was for the mission. The second was from Maker’s Mark. George is a Maker’s Mark Ambassador.
What great marketing. George has a real business card from Maker’s Mark which has his name as Ambassador, an ambassador number and a barrel number. George’s barrel number is 691267, which means because he’s been a faithful ambassador for a couple of years, he has a real whiskey barrel with his name on it. When they uncork it in six years, they are going to invite him to see it. George also told me that Maker’s Mark sponsored the Keeneland races here and holds other events around Lexington. But most important, they’ve got George out talking about their product in a very engaging way.
He even has a pen that looks like the bottle:
So here’s what Maker’s Mark shows us:
Business cards can be marketing vehicles, not just name cards. Do you have cool stuff about your nonprofit on your card? Flickr lets you make great cards of unique sizes with photos.
It’s worth asking people who like you to evangelize for your cause, but it’s important to give them an easy way to do it, like card bearing their name.
Reward the people who evangelize for you over time.
I’d love to see a Maker’s Mark of nonprofits with brand ambassadors like George.
Syndicate
Katya, I’m an Makers Mark Ambassador as well and you’re right, they do an amazing job of creating evangelists around the country. Their loyalty program is directly responsible for increasing sales across the country. In fact, last year California bought more bourbon than any other state - and Maker’s was one of the primary brands with double digit sales lifts.
I’m sorry I missed your trip to KY, I’ve been looking forward to seeing you speak. I love your book.
I believe your on the agenda at the Cause Marketing Forum in NYC, correct?
Nick
P.S. Derekk, the # is the serial number for a specific barrel with his name (and roughly 30 other Ambassadors) in one of the warehouses. When that barrel is ready for bottling, they invite all of the members on that barrel to the distillery for a special event. The program is only five years old and it usually takes about six years to be ready. You can even use the serial # to see a picture of your barrel on their members-only site. There is a special copper plaque with all 30 names engraved on the side.