DEI in Action: Bourbon Brand Team Kicks Off DEI Work with Training
As part of our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, our brand teams have committed to creating more diverse and inclusive marketing strategies.
The Bourbon brand team took another step in that effort last month with a full-day training, led by Samara Davis, Chief Bourbon Enthusiast and Founder of the Black Bourbon Society and Diversity Distilled.
“The history of Whiskey is really intertwined with the history of America. Many Bourbon brands today, including some of our own brands, are named after early settlers that influenced Bourbon. Those men held powerful positions in society and were very industrious. For many of these men, their contributions were only made possible through enslaved labor,” said Vice President, American Whiskeys Susan Wahl. “We want to make sure we are doing our part to recognize the contributions of enslaved people and find ways to create a place today of representation, belonging and an ongoing commitment to DEI efforts.”
Image of Samara Davis via blackbourbonsociety.com
Samara’s training covered ways for the team to approach and be mindful of DEI in marketing efforts, while staying authentic to each brand’s ethos.
“The training primarily focused on four areas – representation, belonging, accessibility and reallocation,” Susan said. “Since then, the brand team has had small group workshops with our agency partner to discuss our goals and, more importantly, put very clear action plans into place for FY’23 and beyond.”
Susan said the team selected Samara for the training because she has been vocal in the Black Lives Matter movement and is a Bourbon ally. “We needed to be able to talk to someone openly and honestly,” she said. “Samara is a trained facilitator, and she is a founder of both Black Bourbon Society and Diversity Distilled. She had the right perspective to bring to the table and has partnered with us recently on several initiatives.”
Following training, the brand team is looking at a variety of goals, including reallocating a portion of brand budgets to reach new, diverse audiences, reviewing strategic partnerships and finding ways to partner with them on DEI efforts, eliminating implicit bias in messaging and ensuring better transparency about the contributions of enslaved labor to the industry and to our brands.
“One thing Samara said that surprised us is when she mentioned that people of color already understand and know that Black Americans had a part in the making of Whiskey. As a group, they want to see that recognized,” said Susan. “It was an ‘aha’ moment for many of us. We recognized that in some ways we are doing this today in our efforts at our Visitor Experiences and through other brand programs. However, we also recognized the need to dig deeper to be able to provide more context around the specifics of their contributions.”
The team is currently in the process of engaging with academia and historians to provide more historical context to our brand stories and better understand the contributions of people of color and enslaved labor. It is an effort that Heaven Hill is leading and is embrace and being fueled by help from the Kentucky Distiller’s Assocation.
