According to PR Newswire, Discovery Communications announced a new cross-platform advertising partnership with Maker’s Mark, America’s iconic handcrafted premium bourbon, which will launch on May 10, 2011. This is Maker’s Mark Bourbon’s first-ever entry into television advertising, and its exclusive partnership with Discovery represents the brand’s single largest financial commitment to an advertising campaign and totals 100 percent of its 2011 television and online budget.
“Discovery takes great pride in being selected among all broadcast and TV brands to introduce Maker’s Mark to the national TV viewing audience,” said Joe Abruzzese, President, Advertising Sales, Discovery Communications. “Discovery Channel’s viewers and the Maker’s Mark brand fans share so many similar attributes and interests, it was a natural fit. This, coupled with Discovery’s track record of creating engaging, high-quality series that we own and can leverage, helped us create a truly unique partnership for this iconic brand.”
The campaign is made up of four 30-second custom content vignettes that bring to life the brand’s campaign tagline “It is what it isn’t,” tied to four of Discovery Channel’s top series, including Swamp Brothers, Man vs. Wild, Auction Kings, and Gold Rush. The vignettes are produced by Discovery Channel and will run timed to series premieres. The partnership will also feature a comprehensive suite of digital elements on discovery.com, including a high-profile video “playlist” featuring the vignettes on Discovery’s top fansite homepages, and supported by posts on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Discovery will also distribute the vignettes via its online syndication partners, including YouTube, MSN, Fancast and Yahoo.
“Both Maker’s Mark and Discovery are known for innovation and for bringing experiences to life,” said Kelly Doss, Maker’s Mark’s Vice President Global Marketing. “I am confident that the custom content will be well received by both our brand fans and by those less familiar with Maker’s Mark. This is the first time in the history of Maker’s Mark that the brand has advertised on television, and we could not have a more synergistic, collaborative and dynamic media partner than Discovery.”
