What This Creative Director on Liquor Brands Learned From Opening Her Own Speakeasy

Melissa Maher took her expertise to an entrepreneurial venture

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Creative director Melissa Maher knows the alcohol business well.

Over the last 12 years, she's worked with Brown Forman, Mike's Hard Lemonade and, in her current role at The Marketing Arm in Dallas, with Bacardi USA. (Tough job, right?) But after consulting with several liquor companies, she realized every brand seemed to be struggling to make meaningful connections with its consumers.

That's when she created Flask, a pop-up speakeasy in Dallas that provided a space where brands could build an immersive experience, choosing everything from the menu and music to the movie playing in the background.

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