Challenge

Early Times is one of America’s oldest whiskey brands, but heritage alone does not guarantee relevance. In a category crowded with premium entries and celebrity-backed labels with larger budgets, Early Times was slipping. Its loyal base was aging, and the brand needed a way to break through with a modest budget. The opportunity was to reconnect emotionally with modern drinkers and reclaim its place as an authentically American whiskey.

The Idea

Sometimes the breakthrough is already in the data. PriceWeber’s brand research surfaced two distinct truths about Early Times drinkers: they were among the most patriotic consumers surveyed, and they dramatically over-indexed for having dog food in the shopping cart when purchasing Early Times. In short, they were big dog lovers. PriceWeber brought those passions together through a partnership with K9s for Warriors, the nation’s largest provider of service dogs to veterans with PTSD. The partnership gave Early Times a meaningful way to connect with its audience around shared values.

The Work

As PriceWeber began meeting with K9s for Warriors, it became clear that the story deserved more than bottleneckers and case cards. We created a documentary as the centerpiece of the broader campaign, following two veterans on their journey to healing alongside their service dogs. Their stories gave the campaign an emotional foundation rooted in the bond between veterans and the dogs helping them move forward. Then the brand invited America in.

Consumers celebrated their own ‘All-American Dogs’ by sharing photos on Meta for the chance to win an Early Times barrel doghouse and see their dog on a billboard in their hometown. Each winner’s dog became a local celebrity, while the hometown billboards created news hooks that extended the paid out-of-home placements through earned media. Social content and media outreach carried the story to audiences across the country.

The Results

The campaign gave Early Times a renewed cultural role by connecting the brand with a cause and inviting consumers to participate. Earned media extended the idea further, reinforcing the American values at the heart of the campaign.

The numbers followed. The campaign earned more than 161 media placements, 2.46 million estimated coverage views and more than 1.4 billion in online readership. On social, it drove more than 107K shares and 1.9 million impressions, with 22,647 engagements as fans across the country entered their own dogs. The work also took First Place, Best Overall, Cross-Category at the Beverage Dynamics Awards.

Most of all, the campaign showed how a legacy brand can regain relevance by connecting with values its audience already holds.

Ready to see your brand fill the trophy case?

Let’s talk about what you’re working on.