小众龙舌兰酒品牌的走红之道

    与之相反，霍金的重点在于“精准打造品牌”，也就是通过人脉来瞄准某一专属群体。DeLeón龙舌兰酒的宣传活动不多。有一次，霍金雇佣了一名《国家地理》（National Geographic）杂志摄影师来拍摄照片，结果这些照片在《纽约时报》（The New York Times）旗下的时尚杂志《T》上名噪一时。霍金还承认，自己在设计产品时以吸引女性为目标——他的逻辑是，如果女人想要，男人就会去买。就这样，霍金把DeLeón龙舌兰酒装进了雅致的方瓶子里，看上去就像是香水。

    同时，DeLeón龙舌兰酒正在积极开拓仍是一片空白的海外市场。虽然85%的龙舌兰酒都进入了美国和墨西哥，但高端品牌正在香港等地设法锁定阔绰的酒吧达人。（几十年前率先开拓高端市场的龙舌兰酒品牌Patrón正在和墨西哥政府一起劝说中国对龙舌兰酒敞开大门。由于甲醇含量较高，大多数龙舌兰酒都无法进入中国市场。）

    最初构想DeLeón龙舌兰酒时，霍金希望它包含四种要素：“奢侈、性感、锋芒”和一种难以言表的态度。一种傲气。霍金称之为“混账东西”。对于那些喝酒时要求服务周到而且鼻孔朝天的人，霍金对他们的浮夸和做作感到厌恶。人们经常把“呷饮龙舌兰酒”和高端品牌联系在一起，霍金则认为这种说法很荒谬：“这是龙舌兰酒。我们知道自己为什么喝它。还是让我们举杯畅饮吧。”

    经过四年的努力，霍金的策略看来已经奏效：虽然DeLeón龙舌兰酒销量较少，但这个品牌的收入和销量正以平均每年200%的速度增长。他也开始去争夺那1%的高端饮酒者——和高端领域的竞争对手针锋相对，而他的产品要更为丰富。去年12月，DeLeón推出了私藏品牌Leóna，售价为每瓶825美元（5057.25元人民币）。

    今年夏末，这家公司将推出Café de León。这款产品由咖啡和DeLeón龙舌兰酒混合而成，还含有2.5%的糖（这是香甜酒的最低含糖量）。Patrón和Avión都有这种产品。本月，DeLeón还将宣布两个时尚色彩浓厚的合作项目：一是成为一位名厨旗下高档连锁餐厅的专用龙舌兰酒，二是加入一部好莱坞巨制。分析师马兰德拉科斯认为DeLeón“正站在时尚的风头浪尖上”，他觉得DeLeón就是大型烈性酒公司希望收购的那种超高端品牌。

    但这并不意味着DeLeón会成为市场龙头。它的价格对大多数饮酒者来说都高不可攀：在酒吧里，一杯Leóna就要90美元（551.7元人民币），让人望而却步。虽然DeLeón等高端品牌正在逐步夺取市场份额，但标准的老牌平民龙舌兰酒Jose Cuervo仍处在领先位置自然有它的道理。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    Instead, Hocking focused on "pinpoint branding," using connections to target certain exclusive populations. In one of the brand's only ad campaigns, Hocking hired a National Geographic photographer to take photographs that became a buzzed-about ad in The New York Times style  magazine T. He also admits designing his product to appeal to women -- if they order it, his logic goes, so will the men pursuing them -- and so DeLeón comes in an elegant, square bottle that looks like it might contain perfume.

    DeLeón is also making an aggressive move into untapped overseas markets. While 85% of tequila is sold in the U.S. and Mexico, premium brands are trying to lock up jet-set clubbing types in locales like Hong Kong. (Along with the Mexican government, Patrón, the tequila brand that pioneered the premium space decades ago, is lobbying China to allow tequila, most of which is banned in the country due to its higher methanol levels.)

    When Hocking conceived of DeLeón, he wanted the product to emanate four pillars: "luxe, sex, edge," and a certain je ne sais quoi attitude. A swagger. He calls it "motherfucker." He resents the pomp and pretension of those who approach alcohol with their snifters ready, noses upturned. He says the term "sipping tequila" -- a notion often associated with premium brands -- is ridiculous: "It's tequila. We know why we're drinking this. Let's get to it."

    Four years in, Hocking's strategy appears be working: Though DeLeón posts low volumes, the brand says that it is growing an average of 200% in revenue and volume every year. He's also started going after the 1% of alcohol drinkers -- and head to head with premium competitors -- with a wider array of products. In December DeLeón released its private reserve Leóna, which fetches $825 a bottle.

    Later this summer, the company will launch Café de León, a bottle that mixes coffee with DeLeón tequila, plus 2.5% sugar (the minimum to qualify as a liqueur). Patrón and Avión both have coffee-tequila blends. DeLeón will also announce two swanky new partnerships this month: It will be the exclusive tequila at a celebrity chef's chain of high-end restaurants, and the other is with a Hollywood big shot. Analyst Malandrakis posits that DeLeón is "exactly on trend" and that he suspects it is the sort of super-premium brand that larger spirits companies would want to acquire.

    That's not to say DeLeón will ever become a market leader. The pricing is prohibitive for most drinkers: A shot of the Leóna blend will set you back $90 at the bar. Though the premium brands like DeLeón are chipping away, there's a reason that the old spring break standard, Jose Cuervo is still #1.