Tequila Enemigo: sport is ‘special opportunity’

Having recently been named the official Tequila sponsor of Fulham Football Club, Enemigo sees the partnership, and sport, as an innovative way to capture market share.

As a relatively newer, independent Tequila brand, founded in 2017 by Robin Clough, Max Davies-Gilbert, and Sebastian Gonzalez, Enemigo is looking to capture market share by way of innovation, Davies-Gilbert told The Spirits Business.

Rather than relying on huge marketing efforts, the innovation technique will be to be the “first movers”, he says. “The sponsorship with Fulham is the first of many moves in order to accomplish that.”

The brand is the first Tequila to sponsor a Premier League team and that, Davies-Gilbert, says, “sends a signal out to the world that Enemigo as a brand is here to make an impact”.

He notes that the brand joined forces with Fulham, based in west London, as they wanted the partnership to “mean something more for a Premier League club”.

“We looked at opportunities with other clubs and none of them had all the qualities that Fulham do. Fulham has this incredibly long history, extremely loyal fanbase. And from our first time at Craven Cottage [Fulham’s home ground], before we had even properly started discussing any kind of partnership, the sense of community that you feel within those very historic stands, especially, we felt at home.

“I think Enemigo can do the hard work to turn Fulham fans into Enemigo fans, and line up in place alongside them as a partner. The new development at the club is incredible, which is also very attractive to us (it has just built a new stand, named the Riverside). And I think Tequila is rising more and more year on year in the UK, so it’s a natural fit to bring it to the most-watched sport in the UK.”

Besides showing the brand name to thousands of Fulham fans every match, and even more to the broadcast, Enemigo will also serve exclusive game-day Tequila cocktails across every bar at Craven Cottage.

In addition, throughout the season, fans can witness a ‘luxury Tequila Enemigo experience’ with tasting flights and cocktails at a branded bar, which will be located at Riverside Market, a new food and drink hub by the stadium and the River Thames. Cocktails will be offered on matchdays, and then all-year-round from January 2025.

On the walkway path to the stadium, fans can enjoy an Enemigo post-match and from next year, non-match days too.

“We have almost 365 days availability across the Cottage, aside from Christmas, New Year and that sort of thing,” Davies-Gilbert says. “Fulham themselves have been extremely open to leveraging us to make the experience as great as they can.”

Missing a chance

Looking at sports and sports marketing in general, Davies-Gilbert believes brands that are not involved are “missing a chance, across every level”.

He explains that with sport you “connect with a wide, engaged audience. It’s one of those things that brings out very strong emotions. My background is in motor racing before this, and it brings out excitement, loyalty, passion… sometimes disappointment. But brands can build genuine connections with people through both the good times and the bad, and I think building those connections specifically, is something Enemigo believes in as a brand.

“I think making the move sends out quite a definitive signal that Enemigo is a brand that is here to make its mark. I think larger organisations have their own problems right now, and Enemigo needs to drive innovation to capture market share, and not rely on huge marketing efforts. Being the first movers to something like this underlines that.”

But will Enemigo be able to convince matchgoers to stray away from their classic concourse beers, in favour of a Tequila cocktail?

Although it’s not quite the UK football culture most are used to, he quips: “I think we have to prove, and can prove, to Fulham fans that their half-time pints can be replaced by a half-time Margarita.”

Expansion

Acquired by MadaLuxe Group in 2023 and positioned in the luxury market with an aim of ‘disrupting the global alcohol ecosystem’, the brand is also choosing its locations carefully – Mexico City, New York, Los Angeles and the UK. In the summer, it also landed in Dubai and Monaco.

Davies-Gilbert says these are important markets for the brand as they are synonymous with luxury.

He explains: “They attract people, client experiences, they are destinations and when we went there, we noticed that the Tequila options available in both markets were predictable at a premium level. By bringing Tequila Enemigo to them, we’re offering something that we think people will enjoy that stands out from the rest.”

He adds that Dubai and the United Arab Emirates [UAE] in general are becoming where east meets west, or “very international to a degree and so we can really access new consumers of Enemigo reading or travelling there, who possibly hail from countries that Enemigo is not yet available. And that’s also very important”.

Asia also presents an “interesting opportunity”, but Davies-Gilbert is wary of moving too fast, as a mistake a lot of brands make is that “they go into certain markets without having the built-in demand, or they have a team that isn’t capable of servicing those markets in the correct way.

“It’s very attractive, as a brand owner, to have global distribution but what that means is you have to be available literally 24/7 and it takes time to build that up.”

Of the brand’s Asia prospects, he says: “We’ve had interest from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and, although not Asia… Australia. But I think 2025 is really a year of consolidation in our current markets and our new markets that have opened this year before pushing out the following year into the Asian markets. I think the demand is there.

“I think Hong Kong’s recent changes to alcohol tax make it particular appealing to us. But when we launch a market, we want to do it the right way, and with respect for our customers there, the country and the brand itself really”.

For Enemigo, a brand focus is to highlight Tequila’s potential for depth and sophistication. The brand has recently done an event in Rome with Mexico’s Hanky Panky (one of the world’s best bars) and is set to do another tonight (1 November) at The Dorchester in London with Handshake Speakeasy, another acclaimed bar, located in Mexico City.

“I think moves like that are strong, or bold for a brand like ours, and then you help establish yourselves as a contender against large competitors, who are not doing that at the moment.”

In other Premier League news, Scotch whisky brand Chivas Regal signed a multi-year global partnership deal with Arsenal in August.