• BusinessWeek, Thursday, October 11, 2007 12:46 PM

The lifting of trade barriers in several countries, a weakening U.S. dollar, the spread of cocktail culture to cities such as Beijing, Moscow, and New Delhi, and a Web site that is translated into 14 languages have been jacking Jack Daniel's export sales by double digits. Brown-Forman expects to sell more than 4.8 million cases abroad next year, marking the first time since its founding in 1866 that more Old No. 7 will be poured overseas than in the U.S.

The brand's marketing strategy has been the same since 1957--a consistency that is practically unheard of in advertising circles. Even the TV ads use the simple black-and-white photos rather than moving pictures.

Marketing Jack Daniel's abroad doesn't differ much from the U.S.--with one major consideration: just how much to focus on its 19th-century Lynchburg (Tenn.) roots. In Britain--Jack Daniel's second-largest market outside the U.S.--the story of the small town and images of 19th-century hillbilly distillers are familiar to all. In China, however, where sales are 45% higher than five years ago, ads feature the iconic black-and-white bottle, leaving the Lynchburg story to be discovered only on displays at concerts or on the Web site.

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