PROPER TWELVE: MCGREGOR'S MARKETING MASTERPIECE

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2016: McGregor teases new brand after Mayweather fight

2018: Proper Twelve launches in the build-up to his fight against Khabib2020: Proper Twelve is America's fastest-growing whiskey brand

2021: Proper Twelve valued at $600 million

How did Proper Twelve become America's fastest-growing whiskey brand and get to a $600 million valuation in just 5 years?

You're about to find out!

Company Overview

Valuation: $600M (Source)

Revenue: Unknown - Private company

Proper No. Twelve is an Irish whiskey brand founded by the one and only MMA megastar Conor McGregor.

If you've never heard of Proper No. Twelve then you've missed out on one of the most iconic celebrity brands ever created. Not just for the MMA world, but for the whole alcohol space.In today's alcohol space we have a bunch of celebrity brands:

• 818 Tequila - Kendall Jenner

• XIX Vodka - Sidemen

• Teremana Tequila - The Rock

But none of them did it like McGregor.In 3 years Proper Twelve went from launch to a $600 valuation.Here's the story...

Breaking Down The Strategy

I must admit, I have never tried Proper Twelve. But let me tell you, I have had A LOT of people tell me that it tastes like absolute sh*t. Take a guess at what those exact people buy every time we gather around to watch a UFC event?Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey, of course!

So, why in the world are people buying a drink they hate the taste of?Well, let me start by telling you they are not alone. Millions of other fight fans do the exact same thing on a Saturday night, just take a look at these tweets:

These people aren't posting on Twitter with a drink that they love the taste of. They are posting on social media because they have a drink that makes them feel connected with their favourite sports star - Conor McGregor.

The company isn't stupid. They understand exactly why people are buying their whiskey and it isn't for the taste. So they never talk about the taste. Instead, they jam their famous founder down everyone's throats. It's not great whiskey, but it is McGregor's whiskey. That's their competitive advantage and that's what they went all-in on. So much so that even now when he isn't the majority owner in the company, they still plaster the McGregor name everywhere:

But Proper Twelve couldn't live off selling whiskey exclusively when McGregor fights. They'd nailed their niche - Conor McGregor fans - so their next challenge was to expand their audience. They wanted to be THE whiskey of combat sports. So, they invested huge amounts of money slapping their logo all over combat sports events. They started with MMA and began plastering the Proper Twelve logo all over the octagon during MMA fights.

They also sponsored the UFC coaches cam. Which means every time the camera goes to a fighter's corner you hear "this coaches cam is brought to you by Proper Twelve Irish whiskey". Just another way to tie the Proper Twelve name to the sport. The next stage was to tackle the world of boxing. Proper Twelve didn't just dip their toe in the world of boxing though, they dived headfirst into it. Just have a look at this photo of the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight (arguably the biggest fight of the decade). Yes, that's a big Proper Twelve logo dead centre in the ring.

Not to mention, Tyson Fury was pictured walking out to the press conference with a bottle of Proper Twelve firmly in his hand.

Proper Twelve is no longer a drink people buy to watch Conor McGregors fights, it's a drink people buy whenever they are watching combat sports.When you eat seafood you drink white wine.When you watch combat sports you drink Proper Twelve.It's a drink tied to an experience.It's every marketer's dream.

The Proper Twelve marketing team have done a spectacular job of rocketing Proper Twelve to the top. However, none of this would have been possible without 3 perfect factors:

1. The Perfect audienceWhen you see the likes of Kendall Jenner and The Rock launch their alcohol brands they essentially launch them into the ether. They have a huge diverse (but loyal) audience at their fingertips and they know whatever they launch will do reasonably well. This is not the case with Proper Twelve. Proper Twelve was launched to the perfect demographic with the UFC audience, just take a look at the comparison:Whiskey drinkers demographic: Men aged 30-49 (Source)UFC audience demographic: 90% males aged 35 - 44 (Source) It's a match made in heaven!

2. The Perfect FaceMcGregor isn't just a major MMA star, he is one of the best marketers out there. He singlehandedly revolutionised the combat sports world.

- 3 highest UFC gates.- 4/5 biggest UFC PPV's ever.- 2nd biggest boxing PPV ever.This isn't because McGregor is the best MMA fighter or boxer ever (he's far from it). He is arguably the best combat sports marketer ever though - fighting for that spot with Floyd Mayweather. There is a reason why Conor McGregor had a huge part to play with Proper Twelve. McGregor can sell, it's what he does. Whether it's PPV fights or Irish whiskey, McGregor will sell it.

3. Perfect Publicity

Wherever McGregor goes, he has eyes on him and that's another reason why McGregor is the perfect person to be at the face of Proper No Twelve. Put aside McGregor's 45.1M Instagram followers or his 9.2M Twitter followers. McGregor's fight interviews alone put huge amounts of eyes on the brand. Just take a look at some of these numbers:

Octogan mention post Cerrone fight - 17.7M views

McGregor VS Khabib press conference (it's virtually a Proper Twelve advert) - 16M views

Khabib Vs McGregor pre-fight conference - 6M views

That's nearly 40M views (purely on YouTube) from McGregor's interviews around his fights alone. It really is no surprise the brand grew so quickly.

Steve Jobs once said, "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."When you look back at the last 5 years of Proper Twelve's existence you can see that this was an absolute rocketship from the off.

Finally, remember your drink pairings.Red wine when eating steakWhite wine when eating fish.Proper Twelve when you're watching combat sports.

How To Implement It

Having a huge star as the face of your brand is not an easy task by any means. However, there are two ways you make it happen:1. The McGregor RouteYou give equity/royalties or a big sum of money to a star to be the face of your brand. A star of McGregor's size probably isn't in your price range. However, nothing is stopping you from approaching a mid-level premier league footballer (for a football product), or a local influencer (for a local business, like a gym). They probably won't give you a $600 million sale price, but they will help propel your business to the next level.2. Make Yourself The StarThe prime example of this is the great Steven Bartlett. If you don't know the story, essentially, Steven was the founder of a company called Social Chain. When the founding team decided how they were going to market Social Chain they opted to lean heavily into Steven's personal brand. The choice benefited them massively and was a huge success. So much so that when you search "Social Chain Wikipedia" Steven's Wikipedia pulls up instead.

This has been a breakdown of Proper No. Twelve’s marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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