Whiskey business: Maker’s Mark gambles on a Derby-themed reddit campaign
Maker’s Mark, the first alcohol company to advertise on reddit, is the rare brand that has figured out how to approach the community site in an effective way. In a current campaign centered around this weekend’s Kentucky Derby, Maker’s Mark asked redditors to submit their own whiskey-themed horse names, the most inventive of which will be featured in a “dynamic reddit home page takeover” this Friday.
The response was significant. The Maker’s Mark thread has so far gotten nearly a thousand comments since its introduction last week, surpassing the expectations that the company and its agencies, iCrossing and Doe-Anderson, had for the campaign. And many of the top comments — “Meet your Maker,” “Bourbonic Plague,” “Whiskey Business” — turned out to be exactly what Maker’s Mark was looking for.
Maker’s Mark executives said that advertising works well on reddit when it’s welcomed, not when it’s being forced by brands. The community also rewards transparency, honesty and conversation, the executives said.
For brands, it’s tough to resist the temptation of reddit. The site has 2.4 million users, gets roughly 17 million unique visitors a month in the US, per comScore, and is populated by over 5,000 subject-focused communities (dubbed “subreddits”). That makes it ripe for scaled, targeted advertising.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
Advertisers, however, have been slow to get on board. That’s because marketing on reddit is more complicated than porting an existing campaign or buying a few display ads. Reddit is its own community, and like any community, it has its own laws and customs. The problem is that few brands have taken the time to learn them.
And reddit isn’t shy about calling out brands that try to game the system. The popular subreddit r/HailCorporate is dedicated to shining a light on some of the real or perceived brand messaging that often gets posted to the site. Recent targets include Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
“Reddit is a community-based platform. The brands that are successful with it are the ones that approach it as a community member,” said Mike Cole, director of sales and brand strategy at reddit. “It starts with respecting the community.”
Ad position: web_incontent_pos2
Case in point: Not every reddit user was on board with the Maker’s gambit from the get-go. “If I’m to play along in this marketing scheme, what’s my compensation?” one user asked.
Still, the Derby name campaign wasn’t Maker’s Mark’s first trip to the reddit rodeo. In December, the company ran its first reddit display campaign with the tagline “Let it Snoo,” a riff on the name of reddit’s alien mascot. Reactions to that campaign from the reddit community were overwhelmingly positive. “I’m genuinely pleased with this ad,” one user said.
“Deciding to include [the Snoo reference] was a big part of their success. They tipped their hat to the community,” Cole said.
That success is good news, too, for reddit, which has perhaps unfairly developed a reputation for being hostile to marketers. “In a world of social media behemoths, reddit is an advertising wasteland,” said an anonymous agency executive cited in reddit’s ad sales deck.
By trumpeting the success stories of Maker’s Mark — as well as recent advertising successes of Spotify and NewCastle — reddit is trying to change that perception. “You have to make something for redditors, by redditors,” said Cole. “The brands that have figured this out are reaping the benefits of a largely untapped resource.”
More in Marketing
In the marketing world, anime is following in the footsteps of gaming
As marketers look to take advantage of anime’s entry into the zeitgeist, they might be wise to observe the parallels between the evolution of anime as a marketing channel and the ways brands have learned to better leverage gaming in recent years.
With the introduction of video ads and e-commerce, Roblox looks to attain platform status
Roblox is expanding into more areas than just ads in 2024. Much like platforms such as Amazon and Facebook have transcended their origins to evolve from their origins as online marketplaces and social media channels, Roblox is in the midst of a transformation into a platform for all elements of users’ virtual lives.
PepsiCo wants to remain a ‘driver of culture’ as it turns to influencers and activations amid rebrand
The soda-maker says it can translate cultural relevance into sales volume.
Ad position: web_bfu