Social Distillery is Now Part of Best Practice Media

As one of the earliest and longest-running social media marketing agencies in Austin, Texas, I'm pleased to announce that Social Distillery has been acquired by Best Practice Media. Merger discussion began in 2016 and an agreement was finalized in July 2019. There's no better team than whom Claire Winslow and Best Practice Media have assembled to continue leading social media and digital marketing here in Austin. 

Looking back at all the growth and change across clients, staff and the industry as a whole—it's been the ride of a lifetime. After eight years and more than 80 clients, the brand stories and marketing impact are still what set us apart. Being small allowed us to be nimble while developing competitive strategies for our clients. Early expertise in social business put us on the map as first-to-market, but also allowed us to teach and educate early adopters of social media. 

Our longterm clients and closest collaborators not only entrusted Social Distillery but also supported innovation and creativity. We learned together, which is perhaps the most important component to successful marketing innovation.

A brief history:

• 2011, the year Social Distillery was founded, Austin had yet to provide social media services through an agency. We opened our doors for business on June 1st.
• In 2012, Social Distillery helped create the very first national B2B persona on social. The Jive Offcie Hero embodied the tactic of bringing brand personality to life. 
• In 2013, we signed with NetIQ, now HPE, one of the world’s largest pure-play software companies and Social Distillery’s first global client. 
• In 2014, we began work with Facebook, promoting their Facebook for Android Beta Testers program.
• In 2015, we invested in company culture with a jaunt down to San Marcos for skydiving and we won another sweet new client, JW Marriott.

(If you were able to find a griffin in Austin, you would have been entered to win a night at SXSW's hottest new hotel property)

• 2016 led way to an agency pitch that awarded Social Distillery the position of social media marketing agency of record for Chuy’s Restaurants. Can you say, creamy jalapeno?

• We also checked off a bucket list item in 2016 when we began work with Twisted X beer—cheers, prost, and salud!
• New business continued in 2017 and 2018 with the addition of KVUE-TV, Austin’s ABC affiliate, as well as, Dairy Queen—That’s what I like about Texas 😊
• 2019, Social Distillery becomes part of Best Practice Media. 

Facebook and Google offer marketers new channels, introducing new features daily. And while each business has its own goals, the required mix of people including designers, copywriters, strategists, managers and creatives to do it well—should never be underestimated. 

Furthermore, thank you to the employees who drank the #SD4Lyfe juice, the clients who fueled it and so many friends we made along the way.

As I move into my next role as part of the Stan Richard’s School of Advertising at UT, I look forward to continuing to study the impact of media. As an advisor and researcher, I’ll continue to be available to support Best Practice Media clients on advertising, creative and/or marketing strategy, so don’t hesitate to reach out.