Lunazul Feed the Wolf Campaign Expands to Connected TV, Influencer Partnership, Conservation Effort
Lunazul’s First Large-Scale, National Advertising Effort
In the past, Lunazul’s Feed the Wolf Campaign has leveraged a robust social media presence, publisher partnerships with sites like Thrillist and brand events to connect with consumers in the growing tequila category.
Launched in 2019, the campaign showcases people with a hunger for life, celebrating their aspirations and feeding off the energy of their own pack. Lunazul’s first tv spots, now airing on national connected tv through Hulu and Discovery Channel, continue the brand story with a group of friends celebrating together on a beach.
Senior Brand Manager MaryCrae Brotzge said when Lunazul created the Feed the Wolf campaign, they were looking to create messaging that would resonate with groups who are social.
“We know when people are drinking tequila, they often are celebrating a moment or a milestone in their lives,” she said. “With the onset of COVID, a lot of that has changed.”
The team sought to edit the spot in a way that displayed empathy that people are unable to be close together now but looking forward to when those times return, MaryCrae said.
Connected tv refers to streaming television services that allow users to view their favorite shows on demand. Of the Big 5 networks, Hulu is number one with over 700 million households tuning in and consuming 43 hours of content per month, on average. The Discovery platform has over 11 million subscribers, offering 55,000 hours of programming.
When consumers select their favorite shows to watch, the Lunazul ad is one that appears as a pre-roll before the show begins.
“Over the years, connected tv has been able to reach a wider audience,” said Ruby DeWitt, Senior Director, Media + Advertising for Louisville-based LEAP AMP, Lunazul’s creative and media agency partner in the campaign. “More and more households are becoming cord cutters, cutting their cable subscriptions and signing up for these subscription models.”
Connected tv is especially popular among the 25-34-year-old demographic – many who had cable growing up — and the oldest Generation Z viewers, who are between the ages of 21 and 24 and never had cable.
The affordable connected tv spots will represent the brand’s first foray into large-scale, national advertising – a move Ruby said will help elevate the brand and build mass awareness.
Save the Mexican Grey Wolf
The Mexican grey wolf has always been Lunazul’s brand icon, but the brand team challenged itself in planning the current campaign to identify the brand’s real and authentic connection to the wolf.
The most endangered gray wolf subspecies in North America, there are only 187 wild Mexican wolves in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico and 350 in captive breeding programs. The team is working now to vet organizations to partner with and contribute to conservation efforts.
“This is a great time for Lunazul to get involved in and steer this conversation in a positive way,” said Ruby. “The 30-second video will run on Discovery’s social platforms and video on-demand placement to encourage viewers to support wolves.”
The effort will connect back to Lunazul’s branding, which encourages consumers to “look for the tequila with the wolf on it.”
Influencer Partners and “Snackable” Social
For Lunazul’s campaign, the brand is working to identify influencers who align with the Lunazul ethos. “These are adventurers living life with a unique point of view,” said Ruby. “We want to celebrate that with them.”
The outreach is part of a larger effort, Ruby says, to get people talking about Lunazul, expanding beyond the typical one-to-many communications style between brands and audiences, and start a one-to-one conversation with consumers.
“We want to reach people when they are in the mindset of shopping for tequilas and keep Lunazul top of mind when they visit our retailers,” Ruby said.
Lunazul through the Years
Launched in 2008, Lunazul is backed by a unique heritage, production process and commitment to quality. As eighth-generation descendants of the Cuervo family, the Beckmann family has a desire to create the highest-quality Tequila using only the best ingredients and classic techniques.
Born between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the deep valley of the Rio Grande River in Jalisco, Mexico, the Tierra de Agaves estate, where Lunazul is crafted, is home to the oldest dynasty of tequila producers. It is on this land that a symbiotic relationship between the Mexican Wolf and Lunazul Tequila became important.
Since announcing the joint venture between Heaven Hill and Tierra de Agaves, Lunazul Tequila has enjoyed tremendous growth and notoriety. In recent years, tequila has overtaken vodka as the third-largest spirit, in a category now booming with new celebrity brand launches. Lunazul is the fastest-growing mid-tier tequila, according to IMPACT.
