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OUR AGENDA
1. Meet the Team
2. What’s Wrong?
3. Situation Analysis
4. Strategy + Insights
5. Art + Copy
6. Next Steps
MEET THE TEAM
MEET THE TEAM

Madison Baum Mia Singleton Joseph Mason Sarah Olick

Account Manager Strategy Planner Art Director Art Director

Avery Tucker Charlie Mahoney Lindsey Hallen

Digital Designer Copywriter PR/Activation/Promo
CREDENTIALS
APPROACH
Taking risks and being fearless in
advertising isn’t easy. Working as
a team to take on this challenge
is how we get things done.
WHAT'S WRONG
THE PROBLEM
How do we make Hardshore the
trailblazer in the golden age of gin?
SITUATION
ANALYSIS
S.W.O.T Analysis
Competitive Landscape
Cultural Landscape
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Strengths

S Obsession with quality; high quality base spirit, five hand-selected fresh
botanicals, grain from family farm in upstate New York, and scientifically
proven high quality water from Sebago Lake.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Strengths

S Obsession with quality; high quality base spirit, five hand-selected fresh
botanicals, grain from family farm in upstate New York, and scientifically
proven high quality water from Sebago Lake.

Weaknesses

W What is Hardshore Gin?

Low awareness for the brand.
Gin is a polarizing spirit.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Strengths

S Obsession with quality; high quality base spirit, five hand-selected fresh
botanicals, grain from family farm in upstate New York, and scientifically
proven high quality water from Sebago Lake.

Weaknesses

W What is Hardshore Gin?

Low awareness for the brand.
Gin is a polarizing spirit.

Opportunities
O Hardshore is not a typical tasting gin. Because of their unique approach and
existence outside of the top of mind popular juniper forward gins, non gin
drinkers and premium spirit lovers will appreciate the product.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Strengths

S Obsession with quality; high quality base spirit, five hand-selected fresh
botanicals, grain from family farm in upstate New York, and scientifically
proven high quality water from Sebago Lake.

Weaknesses

W What is Hardshore Gin?

Low awareness for the brand.
Gin is a polarizing spirit.

Opportunities
O Hardshore is not a typical tasting gin. Because of their unique approach and
existence outside of the top of mind popular juniper forward gins, non gin
drinkers and premium spirit lovers will appreciate the product.

T Threats
Premiumization of the category
LEEHW ECNESSE
WHAT HARDSHORE HOW I WOULD
Refreshing Quality
DOES FOR ME DESCRIBE HARDSHORE
Status symbol Dedicated
S'EROHSDRAH
New FACTS & SYMBOLS Alternative
Experiences
Family Farm
Distillation Thoughtful
Maine
Taste Process
Sebago Intruiguing
Value Lake Botanicals

Passion
Genuine Engaging
Composed Powerful
Confident Lively
Bold Confident
Authentic
Adventurous BRAND PERSONALITY Experienced

Professional Sophisticated
HOW HARDSHORE HOW HARDSHORE
Knowledgeable Trendy
MAKES ME LOOK MAKES ME FEEL
FROM TO
The gin everyone is
Our passion project.
passionate about.

Produced only due to the

A gin made in the
unique landscape and
Northeast.
nature provided by Maine.

A spirit that allows you to

A unique-tasting gin.
try gin for the first time.

Gin for super-premium

A spirit for gin lovers.
drinkers.

Hardshore’s obsession with

high quality ingredients and
A gin produced with
obsessive distillation
dedication.
process yields only the best
gin.
COMPETITION
HENDRICK'S GIN
LOCATION Girvan, Scotland

A leader in the contemporary gin we see today, Hendrick's uses a traditional pot still
method where botanicals are macerated for 24 hours. They use sweet orange, lime
OVERVIEW
zest, and a hit of elderflower to highlight their main flavors of rose, cucumber, and
juniper in their 44% ABV gin.

METHOD/
FOCUS "A Most Unusual Gin" -- "Loved by a tiny handful of people all over the world"*

DIFFERENTIATOR Rose & cucumber flavor.

People looking for a unique gin with a specific flavor; some people will love it and
CLIENTS
others might not.
Hendrick's Website
HENDRICK'S GIN
A contemporary gin that challenges the traditional flavors of a juniper
PURPOSE forward London style dry gin, with a botanical mix focusing on rose and
cucumber.

MOOD/ Confident. They don't care about the 999 people that don't like their gin,
FEELING they care about the 1 person who does.

KEY BRAND "Unusual flavor is the result of an equally unusual distillation"*

BENEFIT

Hendrick's Website
BARR HILL GIN
LOCATION Montpellier, VT

"Our ode to the hardworking bees of the Northeast. Each batch is distilled in our custom-
built botanical extraction still. The juniper-forward botanicals are brought to a perfect
OVERVIEW balance by the floral depth of the raw honey. The results are distinctive and unparalleled.
How do we extract such complexity from simple raw materials? Our secrets are kept in the
hive.”*
METHOD/ Made with honey by beekeepers.
FOCUS

Having just three simple ingredients in a craft gin is rare these days, but Bar Hill Gin
DIFFERENTIATOR
breaks that rule by using a neutral corn-based spirit, juniper, and raw honey.

Gin drinkers who want to truly try gin for the first time and want a unique gin
CLIENTS
experience unlike the standard gins of the world. Caledonia Spirits Website
BARR HILL GIN
“Bees knees week”.*
PURPOSE “1) a celebration of the bee's knees cocktail 2) a spotlight on the importance of bees in our
food and drink system 3) a community of bartenders working together to save the bees.”*

MOOD/ Sustainability and environmentalism: Bar Hill Gin represents something bigger. They don’t
FEELING just sell gin, they sell the idea of protecting the endangered bees of the Northeast.

KEY BRAND The typical juniper-forward taste will get classic gin drinkers to try the brand while the
BENEFIT honey is an attractive feature to bring in new gin drinkers.

Caledonia Spirits Website

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Hendrick’s is not afraid to be Being basic, and having

disliked by many in order to typical flavors, is not always
be loved by one. bad. It can lead to success
Non-juniper forward gins, like as well.
Hendrick's, can succeed in the If Bar Hill has bees, what are
marketplace. Hardshore's bees?
RESEARCH: GIN AND
SENSE OF PLACE
"Gin is arguably one of the most exciting spirit categories, as evidenced by the stellar growth
of super-premium gin, product innovation and the investments made in the category (see
White Spirit Brand Performance), and while gin has strong associations with England, US
consumers don’t strongly associate England with premium spirits, and the popularity of
traditional London Dry gin has waned in favor of botanical-forward 'new wave' gin."

Implication? Lean into Maine.

MIntel
SPIRIT PRODUCT
INTEREST: SMALL
BOTTLES OF
SUPER PREMIUM
SPIRITS
“Brands can think small and offer consumers Men ages 22-34
smaller-sized servings of super-premium spirits
and cocktail ingredients, allowing consumers to
Women ages 22-34 43% 39%
try new drinks without the barrier of purchasing a
larger bottle.”*

Implication? Provide shooters of Hardshore. MIntel

 RESEARCH: BFY CLAIMS AND
ALL-NATURAL INGREDIENTS

“Better-for-you
claims can act as a
powerful
differentiator within
the spirits market
and is a growing
opportunity within
the white spirits
market.”

Implication? Lean into the ingredients. MIntel

STRATEGY &
INSIGHTS
Target Audience
Insights
The One Thing We Want To Say
Objectives
TARGET AUDIENCE
Super-Premium Spirit Drinkers
MEET MALACHI
Malachi is an established businessman living “Work is stressful, so I
in the city. 30-years-old, Ben is a bachelor like to sit back and relax
who drinks as much at bars and restaurants with spirits. With a
collection like mine, I’ve
with colleagues as he does at home by
accumulated a wide
himself. His coworkers introduced him to range of spirit options to
exotic super-premium spirits, and Ben has show off to my friends.”
taken to the scene looking to make his own
discoveries. Extrovert Introvert

Sensing Intuition

Motivations Thinking Feeling

Status, Quality, Social Equity
Judging Perceiving
MEET ERIN
Erin is a physical trainer with a curiosity
“Gin allows me to
for life. Her extroverted attitude keeps her be a part of
active physically and socially. When Erin festivities with my
friends while
goes out to drink with friends, she always maintaining a
health-conscious
opts for gin as her drink of choice. She lifestyle.”
values the health benefits of juniper
berries and herbal compositions. Though Extrovert Introvert

she likes gin, she wishes there were a Sensing Intuition

larger variety of flavors to choose from. Thinking Feeling

Judging Perceiving
Motivations
Fun, Health, Conversation
INSIGHTS
INSIGHT INSIGHT INSIGHT
#1 #2 #3

Our audience looks

Our audience
Super-premium for something new,
values better for
spirit drinkers and Hardshore's
you alternatives,
want the very flavor profile that
and Hardshore's
best, highest leaves the
natural ingredients
quality cocktails. standard juniper-
and obsession with
forward gins
perfection appeals
behind appeals to
to this attitude.
them.
THE ONE THING
WE WANT TO
SAY
No other gin brand puts as much
time, energy, and dedication into
their production as Hardshore.
WHAT GOES INTO
HARDSHORE

+ + =

Water from Sebago Lake + Grain from a family farm = High quality base spirit.

From the base spirit we add: Five fresh, hand selected botanicals: rosemary,
mint, Italian juniper, Bulgarian coriander, and Italian orris root.
OBJECTIVES

1. To communicate the obsession with quality

that surrounds Hardshore.
2. To have super premium drinkers buy into this
obsession.
ART & COPY
Big Idea
Mood Board
Tagline
Manifesto
 IT'S THE ROLE OF AN
AGENCY TO SHOCK THE
AUDIENCE.
HARDSHORE NEEDS TO BE
COMPELLING, DISTINCTIVE,
AND MEMORABLE.
 Drink Hardshore.
Lose your virGINity.
DRAOB DOOM
 TAGLINE

The spirit made with spirit.

MANIFESTO
It starts with choosing the right ingredients. We hand select our grain from our family farm in
upstate New York, use scientifically proven high-quality water naturally sourced from Sebago
Lake, and hand-select five different botanicals from around the world to make Hardshore.

It demands a lot of work. We’re deliberately inefficient, not cutting corners or taking shortcuts
in either the ingredient selection or distillation process to make a truly unique tasting gin. We
reject a lot of our materials, searching for only the best ingredients. Nature is good at what it
does, and we don’t want to interfere too much.

It exists because of our dedication. Without it, we’re just like the others.

It’s the radical idea of making a spirit that gives drinkers the experience of trying gin for the
first time.
NEXT STEPS
OUR PLAN
Social Media
Campaign
Social Media influencer
campaign partnering
with recognized
mixologists through Tik
Tok & Instagram.
Expand on cocktail
recipes and different
ways to drink Hardshore
on Instagram.
Interactive Instagram
stories.
Celebrity/Mixologist
takeover.
OUR PLAN
Social Media Video Series
Campaign
Digital Video series led by
Social Media influencer
founder Jordan that paints
campaign partnering
the picture of Hardshore’s
with recognized
dedication to perfection.
mixologists through Tik
Another video explaining the
Tok & Instagram.
story how Jordan got started
Expand on cocktail
creating Hardshore
recipes and different
Video explaining the
ways to drink Hardshore
ingredient selection process.
on Instagram.
Videos explaining the unique
Interactive Instagram
distillation process that
stories.
seperates Hardshore from all
Celebrity/Mixologist
other gins in the category
takeover.
OUR PLAN
Social Media Video Series Partnership
Campaign
Digital Video series led by A handout for distributors
Social Media influencer founder Jordan that paints that gives them a simple
campaign partnering the picture of Hardshore’s playbook on why Hardshore
with recognized dedication to perfection. is the best super-premium
mixologists through Tik Another video explaining the gin in the category.
Tok & Instagram. story how Jordan got started Partner with high-end
Expand on cocktail creating Hardshore. bars/restaurants to create
recipes and different Video explaining how you signature Hardshore
ways to drink Hardshore create your products and cocktails to be served.
on Instagram. where you get your local Partnership with a craft
Interactive Instagram products. tonic (e.g. Fever Tree) and
stories. Videos explaining the advertise together.
Celebrity/Mixologist distillation process of each
takeover. Hardshore Gin made.
LET'S GRAB A
DRINK!