We started with a bottle. We ended with a brand.
What we did:
- Audience Research
- Strategy + Consulting
- Branding + Advertising
- Creative
- Customer Experience + UX
- Websites + Platforms
- Social
- Media + Influencer Marketing
When Lunazul came to Leap Group, they had a smooth-drinking tequila that was languishing on the bottom shelves of liquor stores. Previous marketing efforts had focused on functional attributes, but we knew that wasn’t going to be enough to cut through the noise of a crowded market with ever-increasing knowledge of quality in a tequila.
We immediately knew we had to give the brand some emotional bite – to dig deeper and really own something – starting with a compelling point of view. In short, we needed to give the brand some soul. By the time our brand refresh was complete, we had taken Lunazul from a bottom-shelf afterthought to a top-of-mind consideration for the discerning tequila consumer – now prominently featured on the coveted third shelf alongside other premium brands.
At Leap, every journey begins with a rigorous understanding of our audience – we want to uncover that key human insight that will allow us to breakthrough where our competitors cannot.
In this case, the journey began with focus groups across the United States to understand Lunazul Tequila’s drinkers: 21 to 45-year-olds living in Lunazul’s key markets who have an interest in culture, food, and travel.
What did we find? They are more adventurous than average. They have a combination of wanderlust and comradery, and are drawn to the path less taken. In short, they have a hunger for life.
Defining the brand: Feed the Wolf
Ready to prowl
Brand videos
Brand photography
New website
Social media
Print and point-of-sale
Unskippable video content
our audience couldn’t miss (or ignore)
Premium video
(Connected TV)
for premium tequila
- Less clutter means more memorable ads
- 100% viewable, non-skippable inventory
- Brand-safe environment
High-efficiency video
(Online Video, YouTube and Social)
the audience
- Most targeted type of video placements
- Align with premium content and creators
- Opportunity to engage consumers
We augmented that targeted approach with high-frequency video buys that reached a broader audience on social and streaming networks to increase awareness and made the ads more memorable by creating an interactive experience. Through advanced TV placements, we incorporated geotargeted store locators at the end of videos so that viewers could instantly find nearby stores where they could buy Lunazul.
Discovering a media partnership that could amplify our media spend in a major way
Our initial collaboration was an editorial social video called Save the Wolves that Discovery+ created using a compilation of video footage. The video integrated Lunazul tequila with logo placements and a Meta brand handshake. Save the Wolves was promoted from the Discovery+ Facebook Page and accompanied by a three-frame editorial Instagram Story, with results that confirmed we had found the right media partner.
- 25K+ likes
- 1K+ comments
- 1M+ views
Celebrating the family behind the brand
Then, we embarked on a much more ambitious partnership adventure: “A Toast to Tradition.” Led by Josh Gates, host of the channel’s much-loved “Expedition Unknown” show (and a cocktail enthusiast himself), the series of videos took viewers behind the scenes of the Lunazul distillery to highlight the 250-year-old brand’s family heritage and everything that goes into the process of making their smooth-drinking tequila. Not only was “A Toast to Tradition” wildly popular with our audience, but it also left viewers with an elevated impression of the Lunazul brand, its history and the quality of its spirits.
Leveraging multiple digital targeting methods and outlets, we were able to generate 36MM+ impressions of integrated social content, more than 19.9K social engagements and 76K+ visits to the custom landing page. According to a Meta Brand Lift Study, brand awareness for Lunazul jumped from 10.7% to 16.2% while consideration increased from 11.8% to 16.5% – a 7.8x improvement over Meta’s own CPG benchmarks!
Maintaining the brand’s premium perception with fresh content
As the revitalized brand quickly captivated its audience, we continued to elevate Lunazul with new photo shoots, videos and visual elements that conveyed a premium feel, along with updated retail and point-of-sale materials that distinguished the brand.
In our ongoing research, we also learned that 88% of our target audience learn about products they’re interested through social media, and 56% have purchased a product after seeing a post from someone they follow. With that in mind, we developed an exclusive creator campaign designed to leverage key influencers to inspire a new generation of creators – and drive organic Lunazul enthusiasm.
From overlooked well spirit to premium wolf spirit
Sales Increase
Brand Lift
