The Surprisingly Simple Marketing Lesson I Learned on a Scotch Distillery Tour (3 Min Read) | Vol. 161

July 25, 2025

“In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.” – Seth Godin

The Surprisingly Simple Marketing Lesson I Learned on a Scotch Distillery Tour

Wendy and I just returned from Scotland, where we toured five scotch distilleries on the Isle of Islay. We visited legendary names founded in the 1700s and 1800s like Laphroaig, Bruichladdich, Ardbeg, and Lagavulin. Each had centuries of heritage, massive production capabilities, and global recognition.

Then we met Craig at Kilchoman, the island’s newest distillery founded in 2005. He started by planting the seed that Kilchoman (pronounced “Kil-ho-man”) is the only single farm, single malt scotch distillery on Islay. They grow their own barley to make 100% Islay scotch. You can’t grow much barley on Islay. Arable land is scarce. This strategy only works if you’re a small craft scotch distillery bottling less than a million liters a year. 

As Craig led us through the tour, Wendy and I kept catching each other’s eye. She’s an entrepreneur too. She got it. Craig was masterful at something every new business struggles with: positioning against established giants.

While other distilleries boasted about their 200-year heritage, Craig held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. “We do the work with these,” he said, emphasizing craftsmanship over industrial processes. Where competitors had massive copper stills and automated systems, Kilchoman celebrated the human touch at every step.

“Derek cuts the peat and delivers it to the distillery,” Craig explained. “David monitors the fermentation process.” Everything had a name, a face, a personal connection.

The genius wasn’t just in what Craig said—it was in what he didn’t say. He never once claimed Kilchoman was better because it was older or bigger. Instead, he positioned them as the only distillery on Islay that was truly “grain to glass.” They grow and dry their own barley, cut their own peat, and control every step of production on-site. 

By the end of the tour, Kilchoman felt like the most authentic choice on the island. Not because they disparaged the competition, but because they owned what made them different.

This is the marketing lesson every entrepreneur needs to learn: When you can’t compete on scale, compete on story.

Kilchomen didn’t have legacy, heritage, or pedigree. So it leaned into authenticity, heart, and originality. 

Kilchoman makes a fraction of the scotch that Lagavulin produces. Their 20-year history pales next to Laphroaig’s 215 years. But they don’t try to win that game. Instead, they created a new game—one where personal touch, humanity, and craft matter more than scale and tradition.

Every new business faces this challenge. How do you market what you do when there are so many established competitors? The answer is to do what they can’t—or won’t.

Kilchoman nailed it. They distilled advantages from their limitations. Their youth became freshness. Their small size became intimacy. Their manual processes became authenticity.

Your established competitors have resources you don’t have. But they also have constraints you don’t have. Legacy systems. Corporate bureaucracy. Shareholder expectations. Use that to your advantage.

Don’t try to battle head-on with the bigs. In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. Find your version of “grain to glass.” Find your Derek who cuts the peat. Find your David who monitors the process.

Make your story so authentically yours that customers don’t just buy your product—they buy into your mission.

One question to ponder in your thinking time: What makes my business authentically different from the established players in my industry?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent