The Brief

When Diageo assumed control of the José Cuervo Tequila brand in Australia, the category had received limited marketing support – resulting in low awareness of Tequila brands. To turn this around, the strategy was to begin from the ground up. Firstly by reintroducing bartenders to the historic Cuervo brand, then consumers. Our brief was to target 120 top bars and convince them to sign up to a program that would enable us to promote the brand in their venue.

Creative Execution

The creative idea enabled us to tell the José Cuervo brand story in an engaging, unexpected way, while the incentive of a free trip to Mexico gave the target a reason to get involved. The large scale of the piece ensured that venues had little choice but to interact with it. They could even try actually smuggling themselves to Mexico if they wanted to.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

To get venues excited and engaged with Cuervo, we off¬ered them the choice of two authentic Mexican experiences. The first included everything they needed to smuggle themselves into Mexico. A giant box with air-holes, disguises and a guidebook to help them find the Cuervo distillery. The second option, was to win a trip on us. All they needed to do was display a Cuervo visibility kit and host an event. We were banking on our target taking the easy option.

Results

Of the 120 bars targeted, 113 signed up for a response rate of 94%. (We’re guessing the other 7 chose the box). This allowed us to begin the process of re-educating consumers in some of Australia’s top bars by delivering the following: • 113 Margarita based activations • 107 Shot based activations • Close to 100,000 consumer engagements • An unspecified number of hangovers