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December 2, 2009

el Jimador New Mix Borrows Soft Drink Brand Naming to Compete with Beer

Today my mind is on tequila. Specifically el Jimador's "New Mix" cocktail
in can.

To quote the Tequila Examiner, there will be three types of these New Mix drinks, including "Spicy Mango Margarita, the Paloma (the most popular tequila cocktail in Mexico), and the Margarita (the #1 requested cocktail in the U.S.)."

The campaign to sell the stuff will begin this month in California and roll out across the USA.

The brand name, el Jimador, is what the master harvester of agave plants is called, but I'm more interested in just how closely the artwork resembles that of soft drinks. Canned cocktails compete directly with beers and even have about the same percentage of alcohol, but soft drinks might skew slightly young for margaritas.

One blogger even describes the stuff as being similar to a soft drink and the company's branding seems to do very little to dispel that impression. This simply does not look much like an alcoholic drink.

The product comes from the very respected Casa Herradura, one of the top tequila producers in Mexico, which in turn is owned by Brown-Forman of Louisville, KY.

So even though Brown-Forman may be targeting beer, particularly "Mexican imports and flavored beers like Bud Light Lime," you can't help but wonder if they are also trying to make mixed drinks look more appealing to the younger markets.

Technorati Tags: Margarita Mix, el Jimador, New Mix, Brown-Forman, Casa Herradura, Spirit Naming, Mixed Drink Naming, Soft Drink Naming

Posted by William Lozito at December 2, 2009 9:45 AM
Posted to Beverages | Brand Naming | Branding | Industry | Marketing | Naming | Product Naming | Spirits

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