Diageo North America CMO Ed Pilkington describes how Don Julio became a leading tequila brand

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Ed Pilkington, the chief marketing and innovation officer at Diageo North America, talks Don Julio and how the brand has leaned into entertainment to drive growth.

Transcript

00:00The key point is, it was always about being in celebration moments and kind of

00:04in the entertainment and kind of music world. That was really where it showed up.

00:13Don Julio has just been a fantastic success for us over the last 18 months.

00:17But really, it's actually been 10-15 years in the making. We've been building this brand for a long time.

00:23I think the first thing to say is, the brand just has tremendous foundations and I think that's really important.

00:28It's highly authentic, lots of brands talk about that.

00:30But it was built by a guy called Julio, Don Julio, who was a slightly obsessive tequila maker who loved making tequila.

00:38So it's got that authenticity and heritage, but it's also highly progressive.

00:42It basically was something that was launched as a celebration, looks like an agave bottle.

00:46But it became an important part of the Don Julio brand.

00:49And over the next few years and as we started to build it and build it,

00:53it became a brand that really got associated with nightlife and being in nightlife and entertainment culture.

00:58which was really, really important.

01:00The other thing about it being a progressive brand, it's always been a brand that's kind of broken the rules

01:04because 42 was really the first luxury tequila.

01:07Most tequilas at the time were being sold for $15, $20 a bottle, basically.

01:11And suddenly you had something which was at a much higher price point

01:14and taking sort of tequila into a more luxury kind of refined space, basically.

01:18So it's really important.

01:20We later launched something called Don Julio 70 for its 70th birthday, which again was quite revolutionary

01:25because it was a Cristalino tequila, which is where you take aged tequila, basically an yejo tequila,

01:30and sort of re-filter it so it goes back to looking like a blanco.

01:33So a brand with real heritage, real roots, but also very progressive in terms of how it treats tequila and looking forward.

01:38You know, for many years, we were always at the best parties in Hollywood.

01:41In music, we wanted to be in nightlife.

01:44We were in the clubs.

01:45So if you went back a few years, the clubs were really about champagne and vodka.

01:49We started to get 1942 into those clubs.

01:51And in those clubs, the scene really is about DJs.

01:53It's kind of DJ music.

01:55And so we started to work with DJs and really building our rapport and our associations with DJs

02:00and getting into that type of culture.

02:02So the brand really was built, so Don Julio overall, and within that 1942,

02:06by being in that entertainment culture, by being in all the celebration events

02:10and by being in kind of that DJ culture as well, showing up in nightlife.

02:14And as nightlife went a little bit more daytime as well, as you went from the clubs to the pool parties as well,

02:19it was important that we transitioned as well and showed up.

02:22So what we did, basically, we did a thing called Dueling DJs, which plays to the whole sort of Dueling banjos

02:26and the whole history of New Orleans.

02:29And we got two great DJs.

02:31We had John Summit and Dom Dollar.

02:33And a couple of hours beforehand, who were basically going to be dueling DJs.

02:37So on Bourbon Street, a couple of hours beforehand, they posted to their many fans and then we posted as well

02:43to say that they were going to do it.

02:44We got a throng of people coming down to Bourbon Street, absolutely packed.

02:49And they started basically DJing.

02:52And it was incredible.

02:53The place was packed.

02:55And how this just went out there was incredible.

02:58So in terms of everyone posting about it.

02:59So the reach that we had, and that's the critical thing, it was an extraordinary experience if you're there.

03:03But the reach in terms of that going out all around the world was really extraordinary.

03:07And what was beautiful about it, it just felt very ripe for an event.

03:11So again, Don Julio at the Super Bowl.

03:13We happen to be an official partner of the NFL, so we have real legitimacy of being and doing things around the Super Bowl.

03:19Showing up in a way which was relevant for New Orleans, but really relevant for DJ as well, for Don Julio in DJ culture.

03:26It was tremendous.

03:27And, candidly, after a little while, we had to stop it all because there were so many people.

03:30We had to sort of break the party up.

03:32But it was pretty amazing.

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