• by Erin Everhart , 6 hours ago

I went to college at University of Florida from 2005 to 2009, which was one of the single greatest eras in the history of college athletics. Tim Tebow. Urban Meyer. Billy Donovan. Two football national championships. Two basketball national championships. 

We were insufferable – we had every right to be – and we took our celebrations very seriously. We stormed University Avenue. We painted ourselves orange and blue. We coined the phrase Tequila Touchdown, so we had every excuse to raise a glass with every Gator score. (And there were a lot of them back then.)

Still, we were broke college students, so this tequila wasn’t exactly top brass. It was the kind of tequila that came with a worm and warning label, the kind you’d shoot fast, not the kind you sipped and savored. It didn't matter. It wasn't about what was in the glass. It was about the moment the glass got raised.

That instinct, that tequila belongs in the biggest, loudest, most euphoric moments, is exactly the territory this week's guest lives in. 

Don Julio 1942 has spent years showing up organically in the moments that matter most in sports: that moment the confetti drops. Super Bowl locker rooms, NBA championships, and this year, they went global, building a full campaign around the World Cup. They partnered with Thierry Henry to bring the campaign to life. There was a gold-plated bottle modeled after the trophy itself. There was a luxury megayacht takeover in Chelsea Piers.

How do you build a celebration brand with intention instead of just chasing the next big game? How do you turn a sponsorship into a cultural moment people want to be part of? And once the confetti settles, how do you stay top of mind?

We sat down with Julian Garcia, VP of Marketing for Don Julio at Diageo, to find out. 

Listen to the full episode here.