Evan Williams Bourbon Nation is a first of it’s kind partnership with NCAAF, making EW an official partner of 8 of the nation’s top football schools. I got to build out the look and feel and visual world that this partnership will live in, and then to continue to build it out as we grew into the program with brand ambassadors, stadium takeovers, live events and tons of social engagement.
Client: Evan Williams [Heaven Hill Distillery]
Work: Campaign Development
Done while working at Method1.
Work: Campaign Development
Done while working at Method1.
The challenge: Launch Heaven Hill's new NCAA partnership by building a community around its eight partner schools, while creating content that remained relevant and engaging for college sports fans nationwide.
I led the creative team responsible for developing the platform from the ground up, beginning with its name. Bourbon Nation emerged as the selected concept—a brand platform designed to unite college sports fans under a shared identity rather than a single school. From there, I designed the visual identity, creating the logo that became the face of the partnership across social, digital, and experiential touchpoints. Establishing both the verbal and visual foundation gave the platform a cohesive identity that could scale throughout the NCAA season.
Once Bourbon Nation was established as the home for all things Evan Williams and sports, we developed a strategy to bring it to life across every touchpoint. From brand ambassadors, creators, and organic social to sweepstakes, live events, and fan participation, each initiative was designed to build engagement, strengthen community, and turn the platform into an always-on destination for fans.
The program took shape over the past year, leading to many prime time placements at every one of our partner school games. Here is my lettering captured on the Peach Bowl broadcast when our partner Oregon made it to the semis of the Playoffs against Indiana.
We also branded the stadium bars at all 8 schools.
In the lead up to the season, I art directed a bunch of still shoots to promote Bourbon Nation and get audiences interested in the activations we would then go on to host during the games. Here are a few of the resulting shots.
Finally, we also began a brand ambassador partneship with ESPN reporter Molly McGrath. I directed a range of content that utilized her presence and likeness to promote Bourbon Nation.
