Marker's Mark didn’t see an ambassador as an add-on to the marketing strategy, they saw the ambassador as the starting point. Maker’s Mark solely relies on the power of word-of-mouth and when you give more than you ask, people will always talk about you in a positive way. Even people who never have purchased a Maker’s Mark bourbon before, are becoming ambassadors.

1. SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING
MARKER’S
MARK

2. WHEN BILL SAMUELS FOUNDED MAKER’S
MARK IN 1958, ALL OF THE CUSTOMERS LIVED
IN OR AROUND
KENTUCKY, WHERE THE DISTILLERY WAS
LOCATED.
SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING

3. BILL MANAGED TO GET TO
KNOW PERSONALLY MOST OF HIS
CUSTOMERS AND BY DOING SO, KEEP
HIS LITTLE DISTILLERY AFLOAT FOR
OVER 20 YEARS.
Marketing
MINIMUM
SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING

4. HEC LIEGE I AMBASSADORSHIP
Kentucky Bubble
THE
BURSTED
UNLIKE IN KENTUCKY WHERE THEY KNEW JUST ABOUT EVERY ONE OF THEIR
CUSTOMERS BY NAME, THE BOURBON DISTILLER THEN HAD CUSTOMERS IN
SUCH FARAWAY LANDS AS CHICAGO, LOS ANGELES AND MIAMI –
AND DIDN’T KNOW A SINGLE SOUL OUT THERE.

5. WHILE HAVING COCKTAILS WITH A FRIEND ONE EVENING, SAMUELS’ SON
WAS VENTING ABOUT HOW GREAT IT WAS TO HAVE ALL THIS NEW
BUSINESS BUT THAT SOMEHOW THE “IDEA” OF
GETTING TO KNOW THEIR CUSTOMERS WAS GETTING LOST.
SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING

6. The Embassy
HIS FRIEND ADVISED TO CREATE AN AMBASSADOR PROGRAM. USING
AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY, MAKER’S MARK COULD ALLOW FAR-OFF
BRAND FRIENDS TO CONNECT WITH THE PEOPLE AND THE PLACE WHO
MAKE THEIR WHISKY. THE COMPANY TOOK HIS ADVICE, AND A FEW
YEARS LATER THE EMBASSY WAS LAUNCHED.
SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING

7. AND SO THEY PUT THE CUSTOMER IN
THE CENTRE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION,
TRYING TO CONVERT EVERY SINGLE
BUYER INTO AN AMBASSADOR AND
PLANNING THE ENTIRE MARKETING
STRATEGY FROM THIS AMBASSADOR
PERSPECTIVE.
THEY DIDN’T SEE AN AMBASSADOR AS AN
ADD-ON TO THE MARKETING STRATEGY,
THEY SAW THE AMBASSADOR AS THE
STARTING POINT.
SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING

8. Digital
OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS, THE BOURBON DISTILLERY HASN’T CHANGED ITS STRATEGY.
ON THE CONTRARY, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION MADE THE COMPANY SWITCH GEARS
AND ENABLED THEM TO CONNECT WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE.
SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING

9. “ PRIVILEGES ”
SOCIAL SEEDER I AMBASSADORSHIP MARKETING