“Partnering with Wizard has allowed us to build relationships, not just transactions. Conversational commerce makes it so much easier for our customers to act on their impulses to try, gift, and—over time—collect our whiskey. Wizard’s team members serve as educated advocates for the Pinhook brand, and the platform serves as a source of surprise and delight for consumers.  

- Alice Peterson, Pinhook CEO

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Blended and proofed to be different

Pinhook is a Kentucky bourbon and rye brand known for their unique approach to American whiskey. More like fine wine than traditional whiskey, their annual vintages are blended to represent the best of that particular year, rather than the same whiskey that came before.

From bottle design to flavor profile, Pinhook meticulously crafts their products. With each batch linked to an actively racing horse—and their colorful, jockey silk-inspired branding—the American whiskey newcomer knew they had an opportunity to generate a collector’s mindset with their annual vintages. But they needed the right marketing channel to engage an audience with an appetite for hard-to-find bottles and exclusive releases.

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Challenge

Pinhook was looking for a way to extend their brand reach, interact with their customers, and build a following for their limited vintage releases. 

They dealt with the added challenge of industry regulations that prevents spirits brands from selling their products on their websites. They weren’t able to provide a branded experience from discovery to delivery, and customers spent a lot of time hunting down Pinhook bottles on other websites.

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Solution

Pinhook partnered with Wizard in 2020 to launch a text commerce channel. This gave Pinhook customers the opportunity to learn, discover, and purchase Pinhook bottles in one place—via text—without having to hunt them down across retailer websites. It gave Pinhook oversight of the customer buying journey in an industry where they normally wouldn’t have any, and it quickly became Pinhook’s most valuable marketing channel.

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We see this functionality as a source of flexibility, particularly in a category limited by regulations and, ultimately, as a brand differentiator for us.
_{- Alice Peterson, Pinhook CEO}

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Not only can customers buy products directly via text—they now have the ability to engage in two-way text conversations with Pinhook experts. It’s an easy way for customers to ask questions about products and get personalized recommendations.

Pinhook made the platform their own by branding their shop via text program, Breeze. Since Wizard supports customized dialogue flows, they were able to personalize the entire customer experience, down to the last racehorse emoji.

Customers who subscribe to the exclusive program find out about limited edition bottles and special offers first, before they’re released online. And some limited edition bottles are only available for purchase via text. Pinhook loyalists are well aware that it pays to sign up for Breeze—their vintages are available in limited quantities, and they sell out within minutes of alerting Breeze subscribers.

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‍Results

Per their mantra, “blended and proofed to be different,” Wizard’s text commerce platform helped further differentiate Pinhook from the rest of the spirits industry—and the results have been extraordinary. 

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• Increased number of users by 1000% in five months
• Achieved an inbound conversion rate of 33% compared to 3% online
• Generated a repeat purchase rate of 69%, compared to the industry average of 28%

Two-way conversations via text have enabled Pinhook to build deeper relationships with their devoted base, and turn customers into brand loyalists.

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