Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Post

As we wrap up the first annual National Bourbon Week, we want to share some phenomenal statistics from the Kentucky Distillers' Association. Kentucky's Bourbon industry has a $9 billion overall economic impact, with $5.4 billion in capital investments, supporting 23,100 jobs and providing $1.63 billion in annual wages. Additionally, it generates $358 million in state and local taxes and supports a payroll totaling $1.6 billion annually. Kentucky Bourbon not only represents our heritage but also serves as a cornerstone of our economy. 🥃 Learn more about how the bourbon industry impacts Kentucky’s economy:

Body language is 80% of communication…

Ooof. For anyone that wants to outstrip a competitor....this is a a best-in-class example on how to do it. Pick on the big guy and call them out for being a bit of a w*nker. in a less sweary nutshell...Take the big guy (something / someone / a business you're competing with) and you position against it. It means you're basking in the brand salience they already have so you can gain market share more quickly. Ben & Jerry's did it with Haagen Dazs. Virgin did it for a whopping 10 years against British Airways. If you want to be a challenger brand in your industry, give this a go...though maybe don't use avocados in your own ;-)

When easy marketing goes hard

Good to know ;)

Important map to have in hand for when you next visit Scotland

This SHOULD be the living, breathing, Digital Heartbeat, of an entire Scotch Whisky Tourism Budget and Strategy. As it is, lots of Scotch Whisky Distilleries are secret, closed, very 'twee' (I'm being nice) and even a lot of the quite old ones, don't welcome visitors. As a network, it's really hopeless. Invisible. Because it's not joined-up, into a cohesive marketing plan, by Visitscotland, aided by the £multi billion Scotch Whisky Industry, standards vary, dramatically. It's a disjointed mess. Some are amazing, some 'pure pish'. You're not encouraged to 'tick them off' and 'do' them all, like you are with Scottish Mountains, over 3000 ft. Even though it would be easier, ageless (my Dad could do it) and there's a lot less of them. You can visit Scotland's Biggest Nuclear Power Station and have a cup of tea there but you CAN'T visit Scotland's Biggest Distillery? Eh? From the Michelin-Starred places like Glenturret and the World Class, 'bookings only', The Macallan, who do the 'heavy lifting' and make everyone think it's great, there are others that you're not sure are open, or closed. Neither are they. Also, Diageo-owned places don't tell you about Bacardi-owned places. It's the same with most places, they're all 'competing'. Nobody in the REAL world knows where the biggest Scotch Whisky Bottling Hall in the World is (it's in Fife). It's completely mental. We NEED tourists. We don't make much that's World Class. Scotch IS! We're outperformed in 'Whiskey' Tourism by the much smaller Irish Whisky landscape. It's a fraction of the size but gets a third of the Visitors? Kentucky, just one State in the USA with a similar population to Scotland, it gets MORE. We have a 'Marine Tourism Budget' in Scotland, we don’t have a 'Scotch Whisky Tourism' one. Two or three of the 'Piers', in faded, English Seaside towns, get more Visitors than EVERY Distillery in Scotland, combined. Glenfiddich, Glendronach, Glenfarclas, Glengoyne, Glenlivet, Glenmorangie. That's just some of the 'Glen' ones. Household names. Owned by some of the Richest people in Scotland and...on Earth. Scotch. A drink named after our Country. Am I the ONLY one who's embarrassed? Were told to: 'Support Scotch'? Is this a sick joke? We also talk a lot about 'Scotland's Great Outdoors'. Is it not time we talked about: 'Scotland's Great INDOORS'? #ScotchWhiskyTruths #SupportScotch.

Food deserts, in my opinion, are one of the most underrated topics of discussion when it comes to why people eat what they eat. The lack of knowledge on this topic simply comes from 2 different perspectives. 1) A person does NOT live in a food desert. 2) A person has grown up only knowing the landscape of a food desert and never leaves. (for whatever reason) I believe it is important to remember there are other lives happening outside of your own. Just because you are not facing a specific adversity does not mean the adversity doesn’t exist. Where ever you are, next time you drive through town I encourage you to pay attention to the demographics and business/companies that serve those demographics. You may not be able to physically or financially go and rid an area of a food desert, but you can find other solutions to help the problem. No matter how big or how small, solutions are solutions that DO make an impact.

Powerful infographic illustrating the cognitive bias that can lead to damaging assumptions about the how, why & when someone with any kind of learning disability, cognitive impairment, traumatic injury or other life changing condition tries to communicate, but have difficulties doing so. Being non-verbal doesn’t mean there is no value in trying to find ways to communicate.

Edrych ymlaen, digon i'w ddweud ar y pwnc arbennig yma! Spending the summer gathering tips and tricks to share for this, should be fun. Hope to see you there, this conference progamme is excellent. #mumsinmarketing