• by Karl Greenberg , April 2, 2009

Tequila brand Hornitos, part of the Beam Global Spirits Sauza Tequila portfolio, is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign with a theme that makes a verb of "Mischief."

The effort, aimed at urban-market males, will include consumer print executions, out-of-home placements, viral videos, on-premise events and point-of-sale materials.

Print ads elaborate on a raffish social life at parties where Hornitos is the spirit of choice. Ads show imagery from an actual private party in New York City in January with taglines like, "If you're going to be home one hour late, may as well be three," with the proviso to "Always Mischieve Responsibly." Ads will run in national urban-hip mags like Vice and Theme beginning this month, while out-of-home executions can be found in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and New York.

Hornitos will also run live on-premise events at clubs that include photo booths where people can take photos of themselves. Additional on-premise materials include mirror clings, coasters providing ideas for a new persona for the night and branded napkins with space for people to leave their name and number for friends they meet that evening.

Antonio Portillo, senior brand manager, said the new campaign is the largest for the Hornitos brand, which Beam relaunched in 2007 with new packaging and a campaign with a "Fine Line" theme highlighting the brand's premium stature. Hornitos is an old Tequila brand, launched in 1950 by the third generation of the Sauza family. Portillo says one of the campaign's purposes is to get people to consider Tequila as a mixer beyond the confines of traditional drinks like margaritas.

"We have good awareness, but we also have a huge opportunity to increase loyalty and get people to enjoy it in different ways." The company developed a drink strategy -- part of the campaign -- that comprises a portfolio of drink recipes called "Hornitails" using Tequila: the Juan Collins and Hornipolitan, for instance.

The company wanted to avoid the traditional model photos for the ad creative. "We decided to go in a non-traditional direction with a real party where we shot hundreds of photos and selected the best of them for the campaign," says Portillo.

The target is male consumers who are "moving from college to professional life but still enjoying going out with friends, who are looking to upgrade from standard Tequila." He said Hornitos will also do events around Cinco de Mayo, will sponsor "Mischief in the Night" parties at clubs, restaurants and bars and do a music series called "Mischief in the Garden of Agave."

The effort, including case cards, shelf talkers and curtain at liquor stores, is via Brooklyn Brothers and Hal Riney with Chicago-based Starcom handling media. Events and grassroots efforts are handled by Mirrorball and Vice, both based in New York.