In addition to James, the ad features Osorio and other Lobos executives including co-founder and CEO Dia Simms, Chief Marketing Officer Erin Harris, as well as James' longtime business partner Maverick Carter and Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green, who are investors. Imagery including wolves brings a symbolic edge to the story, illustrating what Simms describes as an insight behind the brand that “the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack,” she said in an interview.
Simms and Harris last year co-founded Pronghorn, an organization focused on cultivating diverse founders, executives and entrepreneurs in the adult beverage industry, a business where they have been long underrepresented. Spirits giant Diageo is a major financial backer of the organization.
Simms said the Lobos brand reflects diversity ambitions through an employee base that is 60% diverse and 50% women—“on purpose,” she emphasized. Diageo is calling for 45% representation among diverse leaders and 50% women leaders by 2030 as part of its internal Society 2030 goals.
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The new Lobos ad shows James receiving the bottle from Carter at a Cleveland street sign, referencing James’ hometown region. James is shown seated with friends at a game and gently places the bottle on the floor between his feet, echoing a real-life scene that played out as he witnessed Game 6 of last year’s NBA playoffs in Milwaukee, said Osorio.
“That was a big cultural moment. I remember watching that game and thinking, ‘This is what we’re all about. We can do this,'” Osorio said. “It’s all about sharing the love.”
James rises with the bottle and makes his way to a taco truck, where he hands it to a woman working inside. This pass salutes the food entrepreneurs who overcame the difficulties of operating in the pandemic, Osorio said. Eventually, the bottle makes its way to a table where all of the stakeholders are seated. “We’re building a bigger table, and your seat is waiting,” a voiceover says.
The campaign showcases a new bottle design for Lobos’ Extra Añejo tequila. The design, which is meant to reflect the art and skill that goes into its contents, is an elongated, “humanesque,” vessel, executives said. The logo, which previously resided on a label, is now molded into the glass.
According to Simms, the brand launch tripled sales expectations, outperforming an already strong market for agave liquors. That’s because the authenticity of the introductory campaign rang true with consumers, but also because of a larger cultural trend toward “clean” eating that elevated performance of handcrafted foods and beverages and the power of demand for social gatherings and interaction that was interfered with by the pandemic, she said.
