Our work with Cathead Distillery: Three years, five product launches, and one James Beard nomination later
At Sprouthouse, we never pass up an opportunity to do good work with good people—and our partnership with the team at Cathead Distillery has been just that. Much like the award-winning distillery, our strategy for the brand since we began working with their team in February 2019 has grown and evolved. What started as traditional PR, quickly expanded into a full-service approach, including organic social media management, paid digital strategy, website design and implementation, creative services, and more.
To celebrate the work we’ve done together over the years, here’s the highlight reel:
The Objective
Continue to establish Cathead Distillery as a preeminent craft beverage and spirits brand, utilizing the brand recognition as a local and regional community asset and the success of the distillery’s core products as a harbinger of momentum for future product releases.
The Strategy
Understanding the client’s goals for aggressive growth—expanding from a regional distillery to a nationally recognized brand—was the catalyst for our work. Sprouthouse specializes in adapting and aligning strategies to best support and capitalize on existing initiatives, as well as proactively lay the groundwork for the future. Cathead’s market expansions, new product releases, and innovative work during the pandemic called for a variety of services and strategies to achieve the company’s goals and maximize results.
Services Provided:
- Public Relations
- Influencer marketing
- Strategic partnerships
- Copywriting
- Organic social media management
- Event promotion
- Paid digital strategy
- Website design, development, and management
- Email marketing
- Graphic design
- Content creation
- Photoshoot management
- Product branding
The Results
- A New CatheadDistillery.com Built with Growth in Mind
For the company’s first ten years in business, Cathead Distillery’s website was a simple, single-page landing site. However, with the brand’s growing portfolio and continued plans for expansion, they realized the need for a site that not only shared in-depth product details but also interactive functionalities that could scale with the business. Our website designers and developers worked with the Cathead team to design their dream site and provide visitors more resources and opportunities to interact with the brand in meaningful ways. The new site, which launched in March 2021, includes a recipe portal, “find a bottle” geolocator, and dedicated product pages where visitors can learn more about their favorite spirits.
2. Cathead Sparkling Branding + Packaging Design
When Cathead wanted to join the booming RTD (ready-to-drink) category, they asked Sprouthouse to assist with developing the full brand identity for the new product, including naming, visual branding, and packaging design. The result was Cathead Sparkling, an all-new line of sparkling vodka sodas made with Cathead Vodka. The lightly effervescent cocktails come in four refreshing flavors—Cranberry, Limeade, Satsuma Mandarin, and Strawberry Lemonade—with more to come. The Sprouthouse Creative Services team worked hand-in-hand with the client to present multiple brand exploration options before landing on the final design, which can now be found in grocery stores and specialty beverage shops across the country. The release was seamless, with Sprouthouse serving as the branding, PR, graphics, marketing, and website arms behind the launch.
In addition to our work with Cathead Sparkling, our team also had the privilege to spearhead the launch strategy and promotion of Old Soul Bourbon, Cathead Bitter Orange Vodka, Old Soul Bourbon 15 Year Limited Release, and Old Soul Tintype Series #1 over the last three years.
3. 2020 James Beard Semifinalist for ‘Outstanding Spirits Producer’
A James Beard Award is perhaps the most coveted honor in the hospitality industry and one of the top reasons clients seek a public relations partner. While the selection process is complex—especially with newly updated policies and procedures implemented for the 2022 Awards—our team understands the importance earned media, exposure with industry leaders, and event participation play in the selection process for the James Beard Awards and many other sought-after industry honors (like Garden & Gun’s ‘Made in the South’ awards, where Cathead’s Hoodoo Chicory Liqueur won the Drink Category in 2019.) At Sprouthouse, we ensure our clients are gaining the right exposure, and utilize our network of relationships to create strategic partnerships, synergies, and opportunities wherever possible. We were pleased to see Cathead Distillery, among other clients, named to the list of 2020 James Beard Award Semifinalists.
4. Strong Spirits with an Even Stronger Digital Presence
As consumer shopping preferences continue moving into the digital space, it’s crucial that our clients’ online and social media presences are established, active, and engaging. Sprouthouse helped Cathead Distillery achieve this by starting with an audit—a deep-dive of the brand’s digital presence to identify areas of improvement and opportunity. From this assessment, we knew the Distillery had a highly engaged and loyal following, but there were opportunities to better tell the brand’s story in a digital medium, interact with current customers, and engage new ones. Through a combination of both paid and organic strategy, our Digital Team has achieved an increase in audience and engagement on Instagram as well as drove traffic to the online shop over the past six months.
Social and digital media rely heavily on strong visuals, and a key part of our strategy is compelling and eye-catching imagery. To achieve this, we manage all content creation and photoshoots on behalf of Cathead Distillery to ensure fresh, on-brand, and seasonal content for all digital platforms, including social media, website, and e-newsletters.
Interested in learning more about Sprouthouse and how we could work together? We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line at grow@sprouthouseagency.com.