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Diageo North America CMO Ed Pilkington describes how Don Julio became a leading tequila brand
Business Insider
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6/28/2025
Ed Pilkington, the chief marketing and innovation officer at Diageo North America, talks Don Julio and how the brand has leaned into entertainment to drive growth.
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Transcript
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00:00
The key point is, it was always about being in celebration moments and kind of
00:04
in the entertainment and kind of music world. That was really where it showed up.
00:13
Don Julio has just been a fantastic success for us over the last 18 months.
00:17
But really, it's actually been 10-15 years in the making. We've been building this brand for a long time.
00:23
I think the first thing to say is, the brand just has tremendous foundations and I think that's really important.
00:28
It's highly authentic, lots of brands talk about that.
00:30
But it was built by a guy called Julio, Don Julio, who was a slightly obsessive tequila maker who loved making tequila.
00:38
So it's got that authenticity and heritage, but it's also highly progressive.
00:42
It basically was something that was launched as a celebration, looks like an agave bottle.
00:46
But it became an important part of the Don Julio brand.
00:49
And over the next few years and as we started to build it and build it,
00:53
it became a brand that really got associated with nightlife and being in nightlife and entertainment culture.
00:58
which was really, really important.
01:00
The other thing about it being a progressive brand, it's always been a brand that's kind of broken the rules
01:04
because 42 was really the first luxury tequila.
01:07
Most tequilas at the time were being sold for $15, $20 a bottle, basically.
01:11
And suddenly you had something which was at a much higher price point
01:14
and taking sort of tequila into a more luxury kind of refined space, basically.
01:18
So it's really important.
01:20
We later launched something called Don Julio 70 for its 70th birthday, which again was quite revolutionary
01:25
because it was a Cristalino tequila, which is where you take aged tequila, basically an yejo tequila,
01:30
and sort of re-filter it so it goes back to looking like a blanco.
01:33
So a brand with real heritage, real roots, but also very progressive in terms of how it treats tequila and looking forward.
01:38
You know, for many years, we were always at the best parties in Hollywood.
01:41
In music, we wanted to be in nightlife.
01:44
We were in the clubs.
01:45
So if you went back a few years, the clubs were really about champagne and vodka.
01:49
We started to get 1942 into those clubs.
01:51
And in those clubs, the scene really is about DJs.
01:53
It's kind of DJ music.
01:55
And so we started to work with DJs and really building our rapport and our associations with DJs
02:00
and getting into that type of culture.
02:02
So the brand really was built, so Don Julio overall, and within that 1942,
02:06
by being in that entertainment culture, by being in all the celebration events
02:10
and by being in kind of that DJ culture as well, showing up in nightlife.
02:14
And as nightlife went a little bit more daytime as well, as you went from the clubs to the pool parties as well,
02:19
it was important that we transitioned as well and showed up.
02:22
So what we did, basically, we did a thing called Dueling DJs, which plays to the whole sort of Dueling banjos
02:26
and the whole history of New Orleans.
02:29
And we got two great DJs.
02:31
We had John Summit and Dom Dollar.
02:33
And a couple of hours beforehand, who were basically going to be dueling DJs.
02:37
So on Bourbon Street, a couple of hours beforehand, they posted to their many fans and then we posted as well
02:43
to say that they were going to do it.
02:44
We got a throng of people coming down to Bourbon Street, absolutely packed.
02:49
And they started basically DJing.
02:52
And it was incredible.
02:53
The place was packed.
02:55
And how this just went out there was incredible.
02:58
So in terms of everyone posting about it.
02:59
So the reach that we had, and that's the critical thing, it was an extraordinary experience if you're there.
03:03
But the reach in terms of that going out all around the world was really extraordinary.
03:07
And what was beautiful about it, it just felt very ripe for an event.
03:11
So again, Don Julio at the Super Bowl.
03:13
We happen to be an official partner of the NFL, so we have real legitimacy of being and doing things around the Super Bowl.
03:19
Showing up in a way which was relevant for New Orleans, but really relevant for DJ as well, for Don Julio in DJ culture.
03:26
It was tremendous.
03:27
And, candidly, after a little while, we had to stop it all because there were so many people.
03:30
We had to sort of break the party up.
03:32
But it was pretty amazing.
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