SITUATION
Plat4orm began working with CaskX in Q4 2021. The alternative investment firm, which opened the door for accredited investors to invest in barrels of high-end bourbon, was originally founded in Australia by serial entrepreneur Jeremy Kasler in 2019. Since its inception CaskX’s business has been booming, allowing it to open office locations in Hong Kong and then the US in 2020.
The company’s business model is unique in that it provides cash to distilleries for future production of bourbon. This value-added service allows distilleries to receive funds upfront for their bourbon instead of having to wait for it to be produced and to mature, and then wait to sell it – a process that can take several years. In turn, CaskX identifies accredited investors interested in high-end bourbon and then sells them the future bourbon (casks) they purchased directly from the distilleries. Once the investors acquire the bourbon, they can have their allotment sit and mature at the distilleries’ warehouse until they’re ready to sell.
CaskX originally approached Plat4orm for three reasons:
1.) To launch the new investment firm into the financial services market.
2.) To generate significant mindshare in the form of well-placed industry ad business news coverage.
3.) To help retain its leadership position in the niche market it founded.
RESULTS
Over the past year, Plat4orm has exceeded the KPIs of the agreement, generating a story every month for CaskX. Per the client, the Whiskey Wash story was so compelling that website traffic jumped several hundred percent when the story went public. Plat4orm generated several high-profile stories, including a Forbes feature story on March 30, 2022: “CaskX Is Opening The Door To Investing in the Booming Bourbon Market One Barrel at a Time”; a Whiskey Wash feature story on February 4, 2022: “Chatting Bourbon Investment with CaskX”; and a Los Angeles Business Journal feature story on August 8, 2022: “Liquid Investments.” Plat4orm was able to leverage the coverage into advertorial and digital campaigns that reached new potential investors in addition to its client base—distilleries. Because of significant interest in CaskX in addition to Plat4orm’s combined efforts of PR, content marketing that incorporated SEO components and digital marketing, CaskX was able to close an additional investor round and launch another related line of business.
