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

Business Insider

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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