MAKER'S MARK - WINTER WHEAT WONDERLAND
BRINGING MAKER’S MARK SPIRIT TO THE HEART OF NEW YORK CITY
When we think of the Holiday Season, there are few brands that connect as favourably than Maker’s Mark. Family tradition, handcrafted origins, and of course the iconic wax dip red colour palette are deeply engrained in its heritage. So, when the brief came through that Maker’s Mark had an opportunity to activate a unique event for the 12 Days of Christmas – we couldn’t wait to get festive. Our task? To develop an immersive theme and design concept that told the Maker’s brand story successfully, enticing consumers to visit this go-to holiday spot in Union Square, New York City and leave with a lasting impression of the brand.
Brand Development | Brand Immersion | Creative Strategy | Brand Communication Platform | Activation Execution Guidelines | Experience Design | Awareness Building | Customer Journey Planning | Experience Toolkit & Asset Development
The Challenge
As a champion of the brand, it was crucial that the ethos and story of Maker’s Mark was prominent throughout the space. With our key objectives being consumer recruitment and driving awareness, we needed to craft a narrative that seamlessly integrated the holiday season without diluting Maker’s identity, as often we see brands get lost in the Christmas chatter.
Our challenge was to build an experience that had enough stand out and pull among the competition of the many distractions of the area and other seasonal activities.
THE Insight
Market research showed that in light of economic pressures, American consumers are shifting toward more meaningful gifts and occasions during the holiday season.
And while online shopping offers convenience, it can fall short of capturing the joy and discovery of in-store shopping.
Using this insight, we identified ways to elevate the experience through personalization, giveaways and tasting moments, creating an immersive environment to remember.
The APPROACH
Design a holiday-themed creative pop-up experience that is strategically on brand for Maker’s Mark.
Define key brand stories
Our first task as to determine which brand stories from Maker’s would activate most successfully as live experiences, whilst serving as education touchpoints to drive awareness.
Maker’s Mark values embody family, togetherness and handcrafted traditions that align perfectly with Christmas. Translating these as narratives within tangible experiences – from gifting, sharing a drink to moments of delight – we created the right balance between brand relevance and occasion.
Storytelling lead and shaped our design and guest journey, starting with the iconic field of Winter Wheat – the source of Maker’s unique and inviting taste profile and the overarching theme of the experience.
Design with purpose
Having established the core foundations of the experiences and journey – we brought them to life through intricate sketches and designs, working alongside partner agencies to ensure scale, materials and production practicalities were carefully considered during fabrication.
We enlisted distinctive brand assets, a customized logo lock-up and live activities to ensure that each experience engaged visitors physically (via gifting or tasting, for example) and emotionally, using the below framework:
What’s the physical feature?
What activity will engage visitors?
What happens during the activity?
What are the key messages here?
Deliver hard-working assets
Our activation playbook included creative direction of the concept and critical brand and production information to support the partner agencies execute our designs as intended.
With inspirational assets, style guidance for lighting and soft furnishings, and detailed instructions of how to visually activate each experience, the playbook provided a robust template to activate successfully and importantly, on brand.
Staff working during the event were set up for success using our thorough Staff Training Guide. It provided them with detail of brand storytelling, the foundations of the concept and a step-by-step of run through of the guest journey, tapping into each experience and how we wanted visitors to feel throughout each interaction.
FROM CONCEPT TO CREATION
The WONDER
This project was executed seamlessly in collaboration with Suntory Global Spirits and the partner agencies, culminated by a truly memorable experience for existing and prospective supporters of Maker’s Mark and delivery of a marquee event in a landmark setting.
And a lot of giveaways were taken home, heightening engagement and positive brand association:
Wood Block Postcards: 3,511 | Dipped Glasses: 5,092 | Enamel Pins: 1,950 | Ornaments: 2,209 | Holiday Labels: 4,090
“Wonderworks proved to take on a quick, yet large project that had a lot of internal and external inputs involved. This one required a ton of timeline implications, fast rounds of review, cross-functional agency work and although this was developed from afar, they designed an extremely successful, immersive, show-stopping 12-day experience for consumers. Not only were we on time and on budget but they exceeded our expectations in understanding the best way to bring the brand to life. They are true brand stewards and dedicated, trusted partners to our team!”
Kellie Wolverton, Commercial Marketing Manager
