Consumers can see the smooth taste of Brown-Forman’s tequila Herradura Ultra in a new global campaign from Grey Canada.
With a goal of positioning Ultra as a nightlife brand, the “Sound of Smoothness” campaign is built around an infectiously rhythmic piece of custom music from MassiveMusic. The track is given visual form in a video through the use of cymatics: audio waves pulsating through physical materials, in this case Herradura Ultra.
“Smoothness was always going to be the centre of the campaign, and we knew we needed to find a way to bring that to life,” said Joel Arbez, Grey’s executive creative director. Using music wasn’t the starting point, but it emerged as a good option particularly because it underscored the connection to night clubs. “We settled on cymatics because we liked the idea of using the product itself to bring the concept to life. It seemed like a unique visual and musical piece,” he said.
“Esthetically, we were really trying to go for something that looked smooth overall that was graphic, clean,” said Steven Meyers, the director of the spot, (in a behind-the-scenes video, below). “We wanted it to feel like a fine art installation.” The video closes with the simple tagline: Beyond Smoothness.
While Ultra had done well as a luxury product in Mexico, Brown-Forman saw additional opportunity for growth in the U.S. with consumers enjoying a night out, said Arbez. Ultra has a “crystal clear finish” and a “distinctly smooth taste,” he said. It’s being positioned as ideal for nightclubbers because “the smoothness… makes it the perfect choice to enjoy neat, on the rocks, or as a chilled shot in high-energy occasions.”
“We’re excited to launch a campaign that brings Ultra’s ‘beyond smoothness’ character to life,” said Liz Edwards, senior brand manager, Tequila Herradura, in a release. “The new ‘Sound of Smoothness’ campaign reinforces how Ultra is perfect for high-energy and celebratory occasions.”
A media strategy to drive awareness and trial, and developed with MediaVest New York, includes a partnership with Spotify while the creative is being delivered through high-impact units on Hulu as well as Facebook. There is also a highly targeted buy through Foursquare focusing on key markets. “With Foursquare we can utilize location targeting to reach consumers in real-time, in relevant environments,” said Arbez.
Grey was originally hired by Brown-Forman last year to handle digital CRM and below-the-line work, but the mandate was soon expanded to global AOR for the brand, as well as Brown-Forman’s el Jimador brand.
