We considered our two most valuable assets—a dedicated group of social followers and an existing event infrastructure—to help us rethink the scotch tasting experience.

As soon as attendees arrived, they were connected with a hash tag for tweeting, check ins for Foursquare and Facebook Places, QR codes, a SocialPix station for photo-uploading and tagging, and a user-generated mobile "Whisky Atlas" to guide users to nearby hotspots after the event ended.Our Master of Whisky encouraged attendees to share every step of their scotch experience. Judging by the results, they were happy to oblige.

The impact of our program was dramatic. 78% of new attendees were within the brand’s target range, 86% of House of Walker attendees talked about Johnnie Walker in a positive way, and 81% shared knowledge of Johnnie Walker.Over 5.8 million impressions came through earned media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp). Our 15,000 attendees generated over 325,000 “Endorsed Reach” hits – friends who picked up on “endorsement actions” such as Facebook comments and tweets. And our Facebook fan base jumped 157%.

What was once a single-night event catering to a few became a social media-driven experience reaching hundreds of thousands.