Quaker City Mercantile

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Quaker City Mercantile is an independent advertising agency and distiller based in Philadelphia. It focuses on strategy, marketing, design, and branding for the alcohol industry and also owns its own distilleries and breweries.

History
- Founded in 1989 by Steven Grasse in Society Hill, Philadelphia, as Gyro Worldwide. The agency became known for guerrilla marketing and provocative campaigns, which boosted its profile but also led to clashes with some clients. It later moved its headquarters to Washington Square West.
- Over the years Gyro Worldwide worked with major brands including Guinness, Miller, Narragansett, M&M/Mars, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Sailor Jerry, and Puma. The agency helped revitalize parts of Philadelphia, coining the Midtown Village neighborhood name in collaboration with others.
- In 1998 Gyro Worldwide gained fame for marketing work with Hendrick’s Gin and for merchandise projects tied to Sailor Jerry; the Sailor Jerry brand rights were acquired in 2003 and later sold to William Grant & Sons in 2008, while Gyro continued to work with the brand.
- As part of a self-promotional effort in 2008, Gyro Worldwide released Virus: The Outrageous History of Gyro, a novel pretending to be written by a fictitious scholar.
- In 2009 the company rebranded as Quaker City Mercantile and shifted toward creating its own products. It also launched Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, a line of spirits.

Brands and products
- Quaker City Mercantile has launched its own lines, including Quaker City Shrubs and Lo-Fi Aperitifs.
- It developed the Quaker City Malting Co. line for hard sodas in partnership with Diageo.

Notable partnerships and campaigns
- Diageo hired Quaker City Mercantile to advertise Guinness in 2014.
- In 2016, the firm began working with MillerCoors after Leo Burnett Worldwide ended its relationship with MillerCoors.
- That same year, Quaker City Mercantile partnered with Diageo to produce hard sodas under the Quaker City Malting Co. brand.

People and approach
- The company maintains a diverse team that includes distillers, brewers, mixologists, chefs, chemists, botanists, and creative professionals. This multidisciplinary approach supports both advertising campaigns and the development of its own beverage brands.

Overall, Quaker City Mercantile is known for blending bold marketing with product development in the alcohol industry, building a legacy from its roots as Gyro Worldwide into a company that creates and promotes its own brands while collaborating with major beverage brands.