The turnaround in tequila’s fortunes over recent years has been nothing short of remarkable. Once overwhelmingly the domain of students discovering the joys of bars for the first time, mixto iterations were downed mainly as slammers – a ritual which invariably resulted in a sore head and a pledge never to touch the stuff again.
But there’s still education to be done, which is why the global spirits powerhouse Amber Beverage Group has launched the SIP DON’T SLAM campaign for its Rooster Rojo Tequila. The premium brand – which comprises Blanco, Reposado, Añejo, and Smoked Pineapple variants – is leading the charge to get the message across to a broader consumer base and the campaign includes film footage, social media content and print ads, shot in urban Los Angeles. It is being rolled out this spring.
Tequila today is a far cry from that scenario as 100% agave versions sweep awards boards across the globe and consumers learn the delights of sipping rather than slamming these premium authentic spirits.
Rooster Rojo has won multiple awards and its recently released Smoked Pineapple tequila is being hailed a world first, “delivering a truly innovative flavour profile”. All the variants in the range are 38% ABV and made using only 100% Blue Weber agave.
These authentic tequilas are produced at the base of the Volćan de Tequila, a UNESCO protected area in Mexico, where the Fabrica de Tequilas Finos specialists blend them with water filtered through Mexican silver. Rooster Rojo is the first tequila to use this technique, resulting in an authentic, beautifully crafted range of spirits with complex and delicious flavours that are being embraced by bartenders.
Mantas Zlatkus, the global brand director of Rooster Rojo Tequila at Amber Beverage Group, explains that the face of tequila is changing in the way that the face of gin changed 10-15 years’ ago.
“The category is growing and this injects a dynamism which means that more and more consumers are trying premium and super-premium tequilas and realising, as our recently launched advertisement makes clear, that finely crafted tequilas like Rooster Rojo are for sipping not slamming,” he says.
“Consumers have suddenly opened up to the pleasures of tequila, when it is made as good tequila should be, with 100% agave. The vibrant gin sector has helped make people open to new tastes in what they previously thought was a stagnant market. It’s the same with tequila but the exciting thing is that we’re at the early stage for this sector so there’s everything to go for. People are fascinated by and knowledgeable about good quality spirits in a way that’s not happened before.”
And that’s reflected in the category’s growth. “The global tequila category grew on average by 5% between 2016 and 2020 each year,” says Zlatkus. “The premium tequila segment – where Rooster Rojo is placed – has grown by 12% on average each year since 2016. The Rooster Rojo brand grew four-fold in volume and value between 2020 and 2021, so is in a strong position for continuing and rapid growth in 2022 and beyond.”
It is this thirst for premium spirits that makes Amber Beverage Group optimistic about the time being right to raise the profile of its wholly-owned brand with the SIP DON’T SLAM campaign, which was led by Ian Haworth, creative director of Haworth House Creative, in partnership with Giles Calver of Sedley Place.
Haworth says: “We received an exciting brief from Amber Beverage Group to step-change the Rooster Rojo brand and position it as fresh, forward-looking, and challenging convention. We believe that our urban, edgy campaign, SIP DON’T SLAM, represents a cool, urban, yet accessible vibe.”
