Espolòn Tequila
Global Trade Advocacy
– Photography and Visual Assets drawn from lead Espolòn market activations –
Espolòn needed to define a global approach to bartender engagement. While some of their major markets already ran highly creative trade programmes, many other markets lacked the resources to engage bartenders effectively. Ark Drinks were briefed to develop a consistent trade advocacy platform primarily for smaller markets.
First, we audited the trade landscape globally. We reviewed competitors & advocacy trends, assessed all local market activity, and interviewed Espolòn trade advocacy managers in different markets, to understand current challenges and content available.
As a modern Mexican brand, Espolòn touches on everything from underground street art to wrestling culture. We defined a broad, ownable creative platform that covered all the different ways that Espolòn shows up globally. We defined clear brand objectives, relevant audience needs, and the inspiring brand contribution that Espolòn can uniquely make to the trade’s lives/careers.
To build the new global trade programme, we curated & built on existing content that had been proven to work. We were inspired by ‘El Equipo’, a trade community activation that had been piloted in Italy and France. We interviewed the Brand Ambassadors, collected all existing content & artwork assets, and developed the programme story & activation pillars into a cohesive, powerful global platform fit for all ‘Seeding’ markets.
El Equipo is a modern community for agave trailblazers, inspired by both Mexico’s football heritage, and the on-trend collector culture in retro football shirts. For bartenders in emerging agave markets, the swapping & sharing of tequila knowledge is comparable to the global ritual of swapping shirts at a big game. Our unique programme t-shirts symbolise this passion, street-cred, and knowledge exchange within a must-have trade accessory.
As a programme, El Equipo aims to transform its bartenders into cultural players. It’s designed to build a movement, giving local markets a creative, low-barrier way to grow advocacy over time. We wrapped it up in a toolkit that gave Brand Ambassadors everything needed to launch the programme successfully:
Targeting, strategy & launch phasing for the first year
Inspiring, scalable programme mechanics for each phase
Cocktail competition inspiration
All visual assets and artwork
Category & Brand Education Masterclass materials
