Distilled Wisdom
This month’s TAC Talk features marketing insights—and a taste of bourbon.
It was an exchange program nearly 30 years ago that brought Ed Thompson on his first trip abroad from Dallas to Katsuura, in Chiba Prefecture, for a year at International Budo University.
That same spirit of adventure has informed his long career across academia and marketing.
Given that some of his most significant business activities include premium liquors, he also knows the importance of creating refined experiences. “Branding is definitely the key to deeper emotional connections with an audience,” the Club Member says.
It’s a craft he’ll discuss at a TAC Talk this month when he shares strategies and a taste of four bourbons he’s helping bring to Japan.
Thompson’s own journey to Japan continued after his year in Chiba when he returned on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, better known as JET. He next moved to marketing, coordinating the production of print and point-of-service materials for audio companies. Pivoting into the world of digital media, he joined an internet-focused startup before becoming a freelance producer and project manager. His work has ranged from advertising and e-commerce projects with Tiffany, General Motors and ExxonMobil to publicity and PR with Weber Shandwick.
Since the mid-2000s, he has focused on strategy, marketing and activation campaigns for overseas brands—as well as training their marketing teams—through his consultancy. He’s also been teaching marketing since 2005 with organizations that include United International Business Schools and Temple University, Japan Campus.
It was early in his career that he gained experience in the liquor industry, launching Heineken’s platform that targeted youth culture and lifestyle on i-mode, NTT DoCoMo’s mobile internet service, in the early 2000s. This would lead to collaborating on several innovative products for bourbon brand I.W. Harper.
The world of premium spirits, and the bars and venues where they are served, are central to Thompson’s lifestyle—and his business. “Culture, fashion, music and entertainment are all things that I consider core to how I lead my life. But they also wind up being reflected in my work because I involve many of the latent connections that I have gathered in those social circles to deliver exceptional brand experiences.”
One of his current projects is Penelope bourbon, a relatively new entrant in the spirits market, having launched in the US in 2018. He feels that the market is primed for the brand to succeed in a similar niche as the major players. “Remember that Jack Daniel’s and Maker’s Mark were higher-end products when they came to Japan. They’re positioned more as commodities now, and we’re perfectly positioned to capture that space.”
To help Penelope make an impact, he’s executing a branding strategy that has included activation events in Tokyo and Osaka—based on strong narrative storytelling—to highlight the bourbon’s craftsmanship. Penelope can already be found not only on the shelves of bars in Ginza but also farther afield in high-end establishments in Sapporo, Fukuoka and Kyoto.
At his TAC Talk, Thompson will walk attendees through approaches he’s developed over the years for strategic marketing and branded communications, using examples of his work with Penelope and other clients as case studies. The talk, which includes a tasting of four of the brand’s bourbons, is ideal not only for those in marketing but for anyone who wants to learn to effectively get the word out.
TAC Talk: A Taste of Branding
May 21 | 6:30–8pm
Words: Alec Jordan
Image of Ed Thompson: Yuuki Ide
May 2025
