Corby Distilleries

In 2009, Canadians were introduced to the Wiserhood, a brotherhood of gentlemen who toasted uncompromising qualities in other men with a sip of Wiser’s Canadian Whiskey.

Wiser’s needed to appeal to its core drinker (45+, conservative), but to grow, it needed to appeal to younger guys too – the transitional males leaving frat parties behind. John St.’s insight was that every man, regardless of age, admires a guy who stands up for what he believes in.

TV launched last October with two spots. “Offsite” showed a young man eschewing a humiliating task at a corporate team-building session, while “Art Gallery” showed a guy cleverly avoiding a day at an art gallery. Each of these men’s exploits were applauded by the “Wiserhood 5” with a nod, a slow clap and a toast of Wiser’s.

The Facebook community was launched concurrently by giving Wiserhood members a sneak peek at the new spots if they “liked” the Wiserhood page.

John St. also created the “Slow Clap App” – a Facebook application that allowed users to send their friends a Wiserhood Slow Clap.

Wiser’s has increased volume share and revenue an additional 1% in the past 12 months, despite decline in the category overall. A full 46% of the Wiser’s franchise is now between 19 and 34 years old (vs. Crown Royal and Canadian Club’s 38%) an improvement of 10 percentage points in two years.