Attracting new customers is a continuing issue for whisky brands. Luxury Whiskey Market Insights predicts a 10.4% annual growth rate in this sector by 2032, but this growth is being driven by a new audience, particularly a younger demographic that’s led by the cultural zeitgeist, and they have discerning tastes.

Much of this growth will be in the Middle East and APAC markets, which have been growth markets for about a decade. Almost every brand in every sector is bumping up against the limits of American and European consumption – expansion into the Middle East and Asia has been the big macroeconomic story of our times.

But entry into this market has gotten complicated. In China for example, the bai lan (‘let it rot’) and tang ping (‘lying flat’) movements illustrate a growing resentment among the youth towards government control and overly ambitious ideals. In showing their distaste for how society is run, specifically its work culture, scores of people are rejecting work and material goods.

There is still opportunity, but brands need to be careful about how they enter into this market. You can’t simply export your existing brand and hope for the best. In wider society, few cases are as infamous as Starbucks’ attempt to assert dominance in Australia – a country with a fantastic coffee scene, in theory should have been an easy market to win over, but today there are just 69 Starbucks in the country. Chile has 150.

Chiefly, these brands were unsuccessful because they didn’t embed into the culture they aimed to occupy. They relied on tired stereotypes, or tried to push their narrative into a space where it was not welcomed or understood. But of course, some brands have unlocked new markets. They have managed to stand out, buck the trend, and find a way to be relevant for new markets. So how to emulate this success?

Immerse in culture

Identifying opportunities to break into new markets is like being a tracker out in the wilderness. It’s about being able to spot the signs and patterns and using that to infer what people want, where the future is.
To do this, you need to be culturally in touch with the demographic. You need an acute understanding of what this consumer wants and how your brand can authentically tap into it.

Whisky brands have tapped into culture to explore new markets. For example, Hibiki’s achingly cool minimalist branding is popular, but it also uses playful limited editions to create hype and excitement for collectors of spirits and streetwear alike. Jack Daniels, while often leaning into its heritage, has embraced Web3 to create a digital music treasure hunt – engaging those that have grown up in an era of streaming and augmented reality.

Haig Club wouldn’t have happened without Mad Men, and specifically Don Draper. He was enticing a new generation to drink whisky. Diageo launched Haig Club specifically for a younger audience, subverting design codes to make the bottle look more like a fragrance bottle. New, but familiar. The timing is no coincidence.

Trend reports can be a useful way to view a new market and to find an entry point into culture. When researching for Wildmoor, we saw that there was a growing desire in Asia post-pandemic to escape the megacities and reconnect with nature. According to China-Britain Business Focus, purchases of outdoor products on Alizila rose 130% in 2021. We had also noted the success of high-end camping and hiking equipment manufacturer Snow Peak over the last couple years, as well as outdoors collections from Prada and a collaboration between Gucci and North Face proving popular in the area. These clusters of creativity, especially in high-end spaces, signal something that will soon become mainstream. Wildmoor was created to take advantage of this emerging market – taking cues from nature in both its flavour and branding which are homage to Scotland’s great landscapes.

Look for the cultural shifts

But brands can’t be built exclusively on, or by following, trends. Trends are ephemeral, it is far too risky to stake a brand identity on one. Cultural shifts, however, are more permanent. Trends reflect cultural shifts, but it’s imperative to understand the difference. In Asia we saw a cultural shift in values and priorities – the pandemic encouraged mindfulness, being present, the rejection of doom scrolling and technology. It also saw younger people looking to prioritise enrichening activities and adventure over work. All of this was built into our design, from the elemental photography to the bottle looking like a slice of the Highlands, mimicking the actual textures of the landscape. Even the liquid itself aligned, described to us as ‘flavour maps of Scotland’.

A trend report wouldn’t have necessarily given us this insight. This came from being more observational of microtrends, of changing mindsets and broader contemporary culture. It’s vital to look closely at what is happening on social media, in fashion, music, and TV, listening to what people are talking about. It’s with that insight that you can find what’s resonating and create a product that speaks to this.

Don’t lose track of your brand 

Finally, to do well in a new market, a brand still has to hold on to its context. There is a balancing act. With Wildmoor, we made sure to use some traditional scotch design codes – acknowledging the gold foils and bold, masculine colours typical of scotch; but also breaking some of these codes to bring something new. There wasn’t a scotch behaving like its cooler Japanese whisky cousins, which have their own coveted design codes: minimal, clean, modern.

This, likely, is why scotch is under-performing within these new markets – they are not speaking to the culture of the consumer, young, aspirational, taste-making people. So we used some of this to further enhance the culturally relevant aspects of the design. By speaking to the whisky’s heritage while appealing to a younger, more global demographic, we were able to present the customer with something new. It also happened to feel familiar and desirable. We found a way to naturally fit within a new market, hence the success the brand has had.

Of course, these ideas apply to all forms of business. The brands which can resonate with new markets will be the ones which culturally immerse themselves while staying true to their heritage. Those who do this will be paying close attention to culture - the things that people are talking about to their friends, on TikTok, the shows and songs that they’re loving and how they influence what they care about - and hiring teams who can help them establish their role within it properly.

Dave Palmer, Co-founder and Executive Creative Director, Love.