Artisan distillery, Hotel Tango, and its AOR, an independent agency Young & Laramore, have recently announced the launch of a new campaign, which the team also uses to introduce the brand’s second coming and increase its awareness.
Hotel Tango’s refreshing spirits are designed by keeping in mind Marine Corps history of its founder, Travis Barnes. The way of life that requires rigor, precision, and unwavering commitment inspired the agency to craft similar packaging design for the distillery’s bottles. The agency approached the campaign by first thinking about customers who prefer to enjoy a delicious drink that has a history, rather than quenching their thirst with a plain, cheap liquor. So, Y&L conducted a bit of research and discovered two key insights: the team found about Travis’ military connection first. Sadly, they hadn’t known how to translate this feature into better-quality spirits, yet. Then, the crew used the spirits on the shelves as a story to be shared with others.
To address the first insight, the Indianapolis-based agency focused on making the founder’s military background to give customers a reason to strongly believe in the spirits Hotel Tango makes. To better convey the often frowned-upon experience, Hotel Tango changed its way of speaking about the military. We’re not talking about Travis’ status as a veteran, but rather overlooked features of the service for one’s country: it’s the way the founder makes his spirits, using the discipline, standards, and mentality he got used to in the Marines.
Furthermore, the agency expanded on the idea of MRE (“Meal, Ready-to-Eat,” the standard military term for rations) and came up with an intriguing concept which the creatives adapted to various spirits, allowing alcohol connoisseurs to enjoy the playful side of the packaging.
“Knowing that becoming a nationally recognized brand and Indiana’s distillery would take significant investment and an in-depth understanding of our target consumer, we turned to Young & Laramore (Y&L). From the start, our goal was to feel uncomfortable,” admitted Travis Barnes, Founder and CEO at Hotel Tango Distillery, in a press release. “Through discomfort comes the change, and we knew it was time for Hotel Tango to change and evolve into the brand we want to become.”
“The subtle touches in the new branding and insights from my background really gave us a newfound sense of pride in this brand,” Barnes continues. “It is a coming-of-age moment, and we know it is going to revolutionize how people view, interact and share Hotel Tango,” the ex-Marine concludes.
The campaign includes outdoor billboards, an iconic fountain square billboard, digital banners, paid social and streaming audio throughout Indiana, as well as digital banners and paid social throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.
“Hotel Tango quickly captured the attention of consumers,” claims Tom Denari, President and Chief Strategy Officer at Young & Laramore. “The foundation of that connection comes from Travis — his story, his moral code and the lessons he gleaned during his time as a Recon. Marine. That is where the basis for this rebrand was born.”
“We wanted to set our sights on a bold shift in design and messaging to bring this brand into a new age,” explained Bryan Judkins, Principal and Group Creative Director at Young & Laramore. “The packaging is inspired by military MRE rations, with a no-nonsense approach to labeling things that still lets us have fun with verbiage.”
Now, let’s have a shot of vodka and debate the visual identity of these bottles. Cheers!
