29/02/2024
Here's how we built a $10 million tequila company with short form video Pre-launch and how we're taking it to a billion in the next few years
The Esquisitio case study
The idea was simple from the beginning, a three step plan to create a billion dollar company. We based this plan on the succession of other brands such as Liquid death, Mr. Beast’s Feastables, Nelk Boys’ Happy Dad, and Logan Paul’s Prime.
Step 1: Create an amazing product
Since we aren’t putting a celebrity on the brand, we were forced to build it organically, making the margin for error significantly smaller. Therefore, our product needed to be best in its class and stand out. Esquisito has a fully ceramic bottle that is crafted to resemble a woman's figure. We went through 28 versions of the bottle and 38 versions of the tequila, even switching distilleries to find the perfect curation. We did two different soft launches of the product, one in December of 2022 and the second in July 2023, where we were able to test consumers' reactions to the bottle and the tequila, each time taking the information and going back to the drawing board. Our focus on expanding our social media following along with beautiful bottle and packaging design allowed us to acquire top of the line suppliers for the box, bottle caps, and eventually paved the way for us to find the finalized distillery. We finally arrived at the version we’re coming to market with in 2024. This tequila is made with champagne yeast, distilled in copper pot stills and aged in barrels of jack daniels whiskey. It is a mixture of our best Reposado and Añejo to create a smoothness while still carrying the stronger flavor notes of hazelnut, vanilla, agave, and caramel from the Añejo. We did this to achieve our specific flavor profile while also ensuring there were no additives and that it was kosher certified. From start to finish this process took two years to create.
Step 2: Go viral on social media - in 12 months we put up 350 million views and 1.9 million followers across platforms.
Our main goal was to gain a large social media presence in order to get the product in front of as many viewers as possible. You need seven touchpoints to get a sale, so top of the funnel was having people see the product. This strategy started out with what was trending on social media - interview videos, which helped in three parts. First, we were able to get the product in front of consumers. Second, we were able to gain connections and build our network once we had built a large following. And finally, we were able to get live reactions and market data as we tested our product with the people trying it live. We also would film trend videos such as “don’t talk in the mic” or “double it and give it to the next person” but each video had a specific purpose. The goal was to maintain exposure, convert viewers to followers, convert followers to our email list, and acquire sales. We’re creating a luxury brand that still holds a fun social media presence, while wielding the best tequila on the market.
Future plans for our social media going forward for us include viral stunts, massive influencer marketing push, vlog-style documenting events, and eventually we will be launching a tv show. We’ve put in the reps on short form to bring in the publicity and now it’s time to fully build out the consumer base. Everyone thinks that building a massive brand is something that is done quickly. It takes years.
Step 3: Distribution - The biggest play that you can make is to sign a massive distribution deal. Similarly to the brand Liquid Death, they worked in partnership with Live Nation so that every concert going forward would not have other brands of water besides their own. We saved a good chunk of equity to give to our strategic partnerships in the hospitality space. To land a large distribution play, sales and traction are needed. Any brand can get their bottles in a store/bar/club, but liquor is a reorder business and keeping the product at high demand is the most important aspect.
As far as how we get to a billion dollar valuation that's simple…
High end liquor companies' valuation is 12-14x Revenue not EBITDA, meaning for that to happen all that is needed is approximately 70 million dollars in revenue and that places us at a billion dollar valuation. The reason for this is massive companies like Diageo (who own Don Julio and Casamigos) wait for brands to scale and then scoop them up to introduce them to their own distribution network. Because of this, the valuation isn’t based on the current sales, it's really based on what they can do once they have them in their network with their distribution assets.
TLDR: The three steps to build a billion dollar company
Create an Amazing Product
Go Viral on Social Media *repeatedly*
Fat Distribution Play
