Give me gin and tonic

I'm not a big spirits guy, but I love gin. My favourite, Hendrick's, is by it's own admission "Not for everybody." This little booklet that comes attached to every bottle I adore. It is of course sperfluous to the gin, but extends the brand beyond a drink. You could argue it shouldn't be about more than the contents of the bottle, but that wouldn't help explain why Coke's market cap is valued at only $60 billion in assets, but $120 billion when you take brand into account (thank you The Brand Gap).
Hendrick's also back it up with a great product site, which moves over into something a bit more experiential with The Unusual Times.
I love this because:
* I already dig gin, so I'm predisposed and biased
* It doesn't take itself seriously, therefore digs into Mr. Ries' law of candour
* It makes itself a social object, and larger than the drink
* Like the Nike's and Apples of the world, it loves something above its product, in this case the peculiar, and expresses that in the form of a drink the Wall Street Journal named "Best Gin in the world" in 2003
* The story around the drink makes it tribal and is a clear distinction between those who drink Hendrick's and those who ask for Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire. That connectedness is crucial in this day and age.
I think it's about G&T time...happy weekend everybody.
- David Gillespie

Lunch with the CITY's LEADERS Access and insight into the powers that shape our city

Thursday, February 26 Steven Grasse CEO Quaker City Mercantile, Inc. Steven Grasse has been around. Born in Souderton, PA, a small Mennonite farming community outside Philadelphia in 1964, his career has had many turns, swerves and curves - and he's thoroughly enjoyed the trip. During his college years at Syracuse University, where he earned a degree in Advertising from the Newhouse School, Grasse traveled the world doing internships at Bozel in Bangkok, Ogilvy + Mather in Hong Kong and TBWA in London. He speaks fluent Thai and Nepalese. He decided against taking jobs with Young and Rubicam in New York and with McCann Erickson in Singapore.

Quaker City Mercantile

Since 1988, Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) has developed innovative branding programs for a select group of discerning international companies.
What these companies all share is a sense of adventure, a disregard for the status quo and an understanding that traditional mass market advertising is only ever part of the picture.

Quaker City Mercantile

Since 1988, Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) has developed innovative branding programs for a select group of discerning international companies.
What these companies all share is a sense of adventure, a disregard for the status quo and an understanding that traditional mass market advertising is only ever part of the picture.

Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) CEO wants to spread his Quaker City Mercantileizm all up on Shirt Corner facade

Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) CEO Steve Grasse thinks Shirt Corner's bold red, white and blue color scheme makes it "the ugliest store [he] has ever seen," according to his quote in Monica Yant Kinney's Jan. 28 Inky piece. So he wants to redo the facade, employing Philly artists who sell stuff in Quaker City Mercantile's nearby Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction:

Grasse is offering to re-paint the building using Philadelphia artists, that Art in the Age works with. He will repaint it for free, but it has to be a design of our choosing. Steve says "This is a great way to make the Old City shopping district less grotesque, and a great way to put local artists to work."
Since we work down in Old City, I see Shirt Corner all the time, but I'm not disgusted by it like Grasse. I always thought that the facade carried a certain Blow Out-esque charm

LIGHTBORNE HELPS PHILLY.COM ATTRACT ONLINE AUDIENCE

CINCINNATI, OH - Lightborne (www.light-borne.com), here, recently created a new spot that promotes the revamped Philly.com, a Website covering "Anything & Everything Philly."