Australian Distillers Association has announced Bill Harper, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at BrandBossHQ as an international keynote speaker for its 2025 Annual Conference.
The conference will be held on Tuesday, 1 and Wednesday, 2 April, with an additional day of distillery tours on Monday, 31 March.
The two-day Conference and Trade Show offers a program of workshops and industry seminars for producers, distillers, brand owners and marketeers. It will also include a lineup of speakers and panelists, including Harper, that will help businesses gather the knowledge and tools to position their distilleries and grow their brand.
Harper and his team at BrandBossHQ have coached over 500 brands to grow their businesses through brand strategies, campaigns, and consumer research. With a focus on brand building at this year’s conference, Harper will educate businesses on how to stand out and drive growth in challenging market conditions.
“Visiting Australia has always been a dream of mine. I can’t wait to see all that Australia has to offer, to sample so many amazing spirits and meet so many people in person,” said Harper.
“During the session, we’re going to dive deep into one of the most powerful but often misunderstood tools in growing spirit businesses – branding – or more specifically, strategic storytelling.
“It is the same tool that groups like Absolut Vodka, Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Ketle One and others have used to become the category heavyweights and success stories that they are today. The same tool is available, whether you are an emerging brand or an established one.”
Distillery Tours
As well as the Conference and Trade Show, attendees have the option to join one of three curated tours that will run across Queensland and Northern NSW. Each tour is designed to provide insights into brand storytelling with behind-the-scenes access to distillery techniques and processes. It also offers a chance to connect and network with industry professionals about the business of distilling.
The tours include the Tamborine Mountain & Gold Coast Distillery Tour which will visit the Cauldron Distillery in Queensland’s Tamborine Mountain and Six-Tricks Distilling Co. in Mermaid Beach.
The Gold Coast Distillery Tour will visit the Panezski Artisan Distillery and Granddad Jack’s Craft Distillery on the Gold Coast.
And lastly, the NSW-QLD Border Distillery Tour which will visit Husk Distillery in North Tumbulgum and Cape Byron Distillery in the Byron Bay hinterland.
The conference will be held at The Star at Broadbeach Island in Queensland’s Broadbeach. Tickets and tour bookings are available, with full details on the conference program here.