William Grant & Sons challenged Quaker City Mercantile to develop a premium gin that would redefine the category, and create a marketing campaign to that end. After a trip to Scotland to actually see how gin was made, we came up with a short, squat, brown apothecary bottle that completely defied convention. And then to make it even stranger, we infused the spirit with cucumbers and rose petals. With the spirit itself defined, Quaker City Mercantile set out to create an entire world of peculiarness in which for the brand to live.

This delightful universe of unusualness seamlessly stretches across a range of traditional and non-traditional media. Hendrick’s still makes use of good old-fashioned print advertising in publications like The Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine in order to reach a certain subset of discerning gin drinkers. QCM has done a wonderful job of bringing the brand to life in a quirky, sophisticated manner with our unique style of illustration. We’ve translated our print work into guerilla initiatives like placing wild postings and wall murals all over big cities, as well as incredible retail displays and even a popup, duty-free Hendrick’s store in Heathrow Airport. We’ve also created a wonderfully diverse array of branded collateral for barmen and lay drinkers alike. Things like cucumber pots, cucumber muddlers, teatime martini cups, cucumber cultivation kits, croquet mallet cocktail stirrers, a steam-powered cocktail shaker, and much, much, much more. (Really, we can’t stress the much part of that statement enough. The list is endless!)   

Then, we took the brand’s one of a kind look and tone of voice and brought it online, creating the The Unusual Times weblog and mounting a multi-faceted social media effort utilizing several channels including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr for both the Hendrick’s brand and The Unusual Times.

Of course, the Hendrick’s world wouldn’t be complete without experiential events for tipplers to get a taste of both the gin, and the unusual lifestyle that’s opened up by such a deliciously peculiar spirit. Quaker City Mercantile has developed an extensive program of odd events that have been activated on a global scale. From bartender croquet tournaments in the US and the UK, to a riverboat funeral for the glace cherry garnish in Germany, to a Parsian curling contest, to sponsoring a moustachthlete in the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships in Anchorage, Alaska, we’ve thought of everything, and there is way, way more to come in 2010. (For a brief glimpse into all things created for Hendrick’s by Quaker City Mercantile, please take a look at the various media to your left.)

The results have been pretty striking. In addition to instantly creating an ever-growing and loyal fan base, Hendrick's has been named the "Best Gin in the World" by The Wall Street Journal, leader of the super premium gin segment by Wine & Spirit International and won gold and double gold at many international spirit competitions. As Quaker City Mercantile continues to serve as the global agency for Hendrick's, it continues to swallow up market share in the premium gin category. In Fact, Hendrick’s managed to grow profits by 55% in 2009 despite the poor economic climate. They were also awarded the 2009 Distiller of the Year award by Wine Enthusiast magazine. Without a doubt, Hendrick's Gin and Quaker City Mercantile have succeeded in redefining the premium gin category.