At Awaken, we don’t just create campaigns – we build powerful partnerships. Our Proper No. Twelve collaboration with Eternal MMA and The Joe Rogan Experience exemplifies authentic alignment with audience passions, significantly amplifying brand engagement. By strategically integrating media, we drove substantial sales growth, with our MMA partnership contributing significantly year-on-year, and Rogan’s podcast driving sustained brand uplift. Our approach moved beyond traditional advertising, leveraging authentic storytelling to resonate deeply, creating lasting connections, and firmly positioning Proper No. Twelve as the whiskey of choice for bold, adventurous drinkers – truly embodying the strategic excellence celebrated by the Crocodile Awards.
Challenge, Context, and Objectives
Australia’s spirits market is fiercely competitive, dominated by established global Irish whiskey brands like Jameson and Bushmills. Amidst rising cost-of-living pressures, Proper No. Twelve, a premium-priced challenger brand, required differentiation beyond basic awareness. Recognising that competitors heavily invested in broad, generic marketing strategies, our challenge was to authentically engage adventurous drinkers aged 18–34, transforming brand visibility into loyalty and sales growth.
Our strategic objective was clear: elevate Proper No. Twelve as the preferred whiskey by aligning authentically with our audience’s passion points – resilience, authenticity, and boldness, values synonymous with Eternal MMA. We aimed to leverage powerful media platforms that would resonate naturally and deeply with this demographic.
Our approach centred around two carefully selected strategic partnerships: the globally influential Joe Rogan Experience podcast for scale and authenticity, and Eternal MMA for continuous visibility and passionate engagement. This strategic dual approach sought to deliver authentic storytelling, emotional resonance, and measurable sales impact.
Insights and Strategy
Research identified a crucial insight: young whiskey drinkers crave authentic experiences and emotional connections with brands mirroring their personal values – particularly resilience, authenticity, and boldness. Rather than traditional advertising, our audience naturally gravitated towards culturally relevant experiences and long-form conversational content, making the choice of media channels critical.
The Joe Rogan Experience emerged as an ideal platform, engaging millions of dedicated listeners who shared Proper No. Twelve’s core values. Rogan’s authentic conversational style allowed seamless brand integration, resonating deeply with our target demographic, establishing genuine connections.
Complementing this, Eternal MMA provided continuous visibility within the highly passionate MMA community, broadcasted on platforms like UFC Fight Pass and ESPN. This partnership allowed Proper No. Twelve to authentically align its brand identity with the raw, resilient spirit of MMA fans, ensuring direct and consistent exposure to our core audience.
Our strategic execution combined integrated multimedia activations precisely timed with major UFC events, incorporating digital and social bursts alongside high-profile media integrations. This carefully structured approach enabled Proper No. Twelve to establish meaningful emotional connections, converting audience engagement into measurable business outcomes – effectively differentiating the brand within a crowded and competitive marketplace.
Execution and Audience Engagement
Our execution centred on two strategic partnerships to authentically embed Proper No. Twelve within cultural conversations and experiences:
With The Joe Rogan Experience, we executed four weeks of impactful live-read integrations, positioning Proper No. Twelve seamlessly within Rogan’s authentic conversations, reaching millions of listeners. Unlike traditional advertising, this approach felt natural and conversational, tapping into Rogan’s credibility and trust among his audience, establishing Proper No. Twelve as part of the cultural narrative.
Simultaneously, our partnership with Eternal MMA ensured continuous brand visibility during key MMA events. Proper No. Twelve featured prominently in live broadcasts on UFC Fight Pass, ESPN, and sponsorship segments such as Foxtel’s ‘Smooth Move.’ Strategic Snapchat activations around high-profile UFC events further amplified visibility, reaching audiences precisely when their passion peaked.
Every activation was intentionally chosen to ensure maximum cultural resonance, naturally aligning Proper No. Twelve’s bold identity with influential personalities and high-energy occasions. This integrated approach not only maximised audience engagement but significantly exceeded industry benchmarks, demonstrating the effectiveness of authentic, strategic partnerships.
Results and Impact
Our strategic partnerships significantly exceeded objectives, delivering exceptional results:
• Eternal MMA partnership drove an impressive 149% year-on-year growth on the 1L SKU (August 2023 vs August 2024).
• Integrations with The Joe Rogan Experience directly contributed to a substantial 20% total brand sales uplift in August 2024.
• Campaign content delivered outstanding engagement metrics: achieving 3 million total impressions, 83,000 video views, and over 1,700 audience engagements across digital and social platforms.
Audience analysis validated the precision of our targeting: 88% of Rogan’s listeners were male, 41% aged between 25–34, perfectly matching Proper No. Twelve’s core audience profile. By leveraging these partnerships, we significantly improved immediate sales performance and strengthened long-term brand affinity through genuine emotional connections rather than promotional tactics.
Crucially, these remarkable outcomes were achieved organically, without relying on traditional discounts or retailer incentives, highlighting the power of strategic, authentic storytelling. This approach has subsequently become integral to Proper No. Twelve’s future marketing strategy, demonstrating sustainable growth through culturally resonant partnerships.
Through strategically selected collaborations, Proper No. Twelve significantly differentiated itself within a competitive market. By authentically embedding itself into culturally relevant platforms, the brand firmly positioned itself as the whiskey of choice for bold, adventurous consumers—demonstrating the exceptional power and lasting impact of strategically driven brand partnerships.
Thank you…