Legendary Mash

What We Did

Jack Daniel’s "Legendary Mash" was a once in a lifetime 3-day live music event organized by The Hive that brought 430 guests from 35 countries together at the historic Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. The guest list consisted of consumers, emerging bands, members of the media and Jack Daniel’s trade representatives from around the world. The event saw UK indie-rock band Hard-Fi and the legendary Carbon/Silicon, featuring Mick Jones of the Clash and Tony James of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnick put on a jaw-dropping private performance. After the bands’ individual sets, we arranged for them to blend their musical styles together for a never-before-seen on-stage “mash”.

Why We Did It

In music, getting a mash right takes enormous skill, passion and attention-to-detail; attributes which have always been the hallmarks of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 whiskey and the hand-crafted sour mash which forms its basis. Jack Daniel’s was looking for a unique and flexible global property that could be tailored to suit individual market needs for brand building ROI and a music event was a natural choice since music is inherently part of the brand’s DNA. From the days of the original Jack Daniel’s Silver Cornet Band to today, Jack Daniel’s has always been tied closely to music, as a means of entertainment when enjoying a drink with friends. The Legendary Mash allowed Jack Daniel’s to reach thousands of global consumers through ongoing consumer programs and contests that ultimately lead to the spectacular event at the distillery in Lynchburg.

What Happened

In a post event survey, 95% of attendees believed the event provided a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ music experience. But that’s not all: Jack touched thousands more around the globe through extensive run-up promotional activity and follow-up, not to mention media coverage in 59 publications, 25 radio stations, 45 television features, and countless unsolicited mentions on blogs and social networking sites. For every $1.00 spent on the program in 2008, we averaged $2.50 in return on media / PR awareness. What did it all add up to in the end? The global business-building activities associated with Legendary Mash contributed to double digit growth for the brand in most international Jack Daniel’s markets around the world for that fiscal year.