The Problem
A craft brand with a story that wasn't being told
Westland — an innovative Seattle distillery sourcing local ingredients to amplify terroir and craftsmanship — needed to increase brand awareness, marketing reach, and sales. The challenge was multi-layered: identifying the right target audiences, optimizing the website, and repositioning in an increasingly competitive market.
As a company within the Rémy Cointreau parent structure, product release timelines were sometimes accelerated or held — creating additional complexity for strategy and communication.
On-site immersion — the distillery interior and barrel room informed our ethnographic understanding of brand ethos and production process.
My Process
Research-led from start to handoff
Ethnographic Research
Going beyond the desk
In addition to interviews and data analysis, I participated in an intensive field weekend capturing film and photography — immersing in the brand ethos, understanding target customers firsthand, and opening a pathway for authentic storytelling.
This ethnographic immersion confirmed what research data suggested: the brand's story was its biggest differentiator, and it wasn't being communicated clearly online.
Key objectives shaped by field research: Education of product category via SEO content, a digital campaign strategy tied to product releases, and capture of brand photography for a social media content repository.
User Research & Data Analysis
Translating behavior into strategy
Conducted user interviews across multiple markets to clarify user flow, identify opportunities, and understand what was driving or blocking website traffic and distillery visitation.
Synthesized data as website changes were made — categorizing findings into affinity diagrams, establishing and prioritizing customer needs and habits, and continuously aligning stakeholder decisions to evolving research.
Left: User research framework mapping product categories to target personas. Right: Google Ads campaign analysis — synthesizing search data to inform keyword strategy and optimize spend.
Service Design
Pain Point Analysis & Journey Mapping
Used AI tools to synthesize an updated end-to-end journey map, highlighting two structurally different customer silos the marketing team was trying to reach simultaneously. The map surfaced that one problem couldn't proceed without compromising the other — and that the true priority was a better online presence and e-commerce flow.
AI-assisted pain point analysis — the output categorized design opportunities that translated directly into business strategy.
Key Insights
Four findings that shaped everything
Clear Definition
Customers needed clearer differentiation between single malt and other categories to make confident purchase decisions — a content and SEO opportunity.
Differentiation
Westland's core values, culture, and transparency in process set it apart — but this story wasn't reaching new customers online.
Reputation
What the brand says and does builds trust. Consistency between digital presence and product experience was essential.
Storytelling
The brand narrative creates emotional connection. Ethnographic immersion confirmed this was the missing thread in the digital strategy.
Outcomes
Measurable impact across channels
Social media presence increased through aligned content strategy and product-release campaigns
Content and copy provided to increase product category adoption and search visibility
Website friction points identified that the distillery hadn't previously caught, directly optimizing the sales funnel
Icons of Whiskey — Campaign Innovator of the Year
"Danny played a pivotal role in our recent web overhaul. His approach was analytical, in depth, and focused on real-time data as he conducted in-depth consumer testing that revealed friction points we hadn't previously identified. By translating these complex user behaviors into actionable design improvements, he directly contributed to a significant optimization of our sales funnel."
— Ryan Van Splinter, Global Marketing Director, Westland Distillery
Team
Daniel Sanchez — UX Researcher & Service Designer
Ryan Van Splinter — Global Marketing Director
Hannah Nelson — Associate Brand Manager
Steve Hawley — Marketing Manager