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abby.mick@lewiscommunications.com
The World Bourbon Toast™ started with a simple truth: Bourbon brings people together. But while Kentucky produces 95% of the world’s Bourbon, there was no single moment that united that global audience. We saw an opportunity to change that—to create not just an event, but a shared experience that would reinforce Kentucky’s authority on Bourbon while inviting the world to participate.
In 2025, we set out to elevate the Toast from a successful activation into a cultural moment at scale. By partnering with Bourbon & Beyond—the Pollstar Global Music Festival of the Year—the Toast was automatically set on a global, cultural stage, instantly unlocking a massive, highly engaged audience. The experience was intentionally designed as a hybrid, blending live festival content, hourly livestreams with celebrity and Bourbon influencer interviews, and global social participation featuring Kentucky Bourbon Trail® giveaways. This hybrid approach fueled scale and inclusivity, resulting in the transformation of a branded event into a shared global experience.
Execution was built like a content engine. We produced hourly segments throughout the day, anchored by interviews with high-profile figures like Jim Gaffigan, Elizabeth Banks, KY Governor Andy Beshear, Terry Bradshaw and more. At the same time, we activated distilleries, partners, and fans around the world with toolkits that made it easy to participate and share their own toasts using #WorldBourbonToast. What unfolded wasn’t just programming—it was a constantly evolving, global feed of celebration, conversation, and connection.
One of the most surprising outcomes was how naturally people leaned in. From 49 countries across six continents, participants didn’t just watch, they contributed. They posted their own toasts, engaged in real time, and helped shape the experience. The campaign became as much about user-generated content as it was about the livestream itself. It proved that when you invite people into the story, they don’t just engage, they amplify.
And the results reflected that momentum. The campaign generated 57.5 million impressions, a 187% increase year-over-year, and delivered $3.6 million in earned media value—a 73x return on investment. More than 12,000 new users visited the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® website, and thousands engaged across livestream and social platforms.
The 2025 World Bourbon Toast™ proved that scale doesn’t require scale budgets—it requires the right idea, the right partners, and the right platforms to encourage participation. By designing for inclusivity and shareability, we turned a one-day event into an ongoing global tradition of bringing the world together — Bourbon in hand.
