Tequila David Reyes

Branding Image Tequila David Reyes for US Market

What is a branding IMAGE?

text and photography created by Mike boatman

© Mike Boatman 2018

The story of the creation of the branding image always begins with the product, an understanding of what the product is to be used for, and who the audience is. At first glance it appears to be simple: The product is tequila and people drink it.

But it’s not quite that simple with Tequila David Reyes which retails at $695 a bottle!

Misunderstanding the product might be why the place-holder stock image created by the web designer missed the mark. Technically the photograph that the web designer created was good. Exposure, saturation, and sharpness all were excellent. The image itself was stellar.  The problem was that it just didn’t represent this very special product. And herein lies the story.  Just because an image is technically correct and attractive doesn’t make it a branding image. A branding image must capture the essence and uniqueness of the product, communicate with the appropriate audience, demonstrate its superior elements, and set expectations.

Assignment:

Create a branding image to represent Tequila David Reyes debut to the US marketplace.

Research:

To begin the process, I ask every possible question I can think of and I listen intently to the answers. I independently research the answers and if there’s anything that is unclear, I go back and ask more questions before I even consider designing an image. Quite simply, how can you design an image if you’re blind to the elements that need to be illustrated?

The product and the challenges of this assignment:

This product is completely new to the US market. This doesn’t mean that it’s unknown. On the contrary: In elite circles, David Reyes is quite well known. David Reyes is a world-renowned elite grower of blue agave. David’s agave is the only fully pure naturally grown agave. It has one of the highest natural sugar contents of all agave.  Tequila David Reyes is recognized by world elite connoisseurs as being one of the best (if not the best) blanc tequilas they’ve ever tasted. For the full story you can start your own investigation and visit their website here, tequilaDr.com.

The challenges of this assignment should begin to jump out at you. But to add to it, the client explained to me that the current bottle is a plain Jane, common bottle used by everyone. They are in the process of redesigning a custom bottle for this extraordinary tequila. But the new bottle will not be ready for market for about 18 months.

The tequila itself is so transparent and pure that it’s virtually invisible. If you shake it and hold it just right, you can see iridescent flakes of agave suspended in the crystal-clear liquid.

As a photographer, my challenge was to illustrate the extraordinary liquid contained in a common glass bottle in such a manner that at first glance, the tequila’s elite status is instantly recognized by knowledgeable tequila enthusiasts. The idea that I came up with was to make the liquid itself the light illuminating element in the photograph. (This would be like photographing a transparent lightbulb where the glass of the lightbulb becomes secondary to the illumination of the element inside.) I wanted the tequila liquid to be the element, creating the luminance for the photograph.

Next, I needed to determine the setting for the product photograph. David Reyes Blue Agave is grown at an elevation of 4000 feet above sea level. I chose a base element that would illustrate the harshness of growing and living at that elevation. The stone base also represents the character of David Reyes and his dedication to growing pure elite Blue Agave and creating the highest quality Blanc tequila.

[Note: If you’re a collector or a tequila enthusiast, be aware that this product in the plain bottle will become a collectible item once the new bottle design is introduced. There will only be a limited number of these debut bottles.]

Typically, at this point I would say, “Decide for yourself if I was successful because, the proof is always self-evident in the image.”But today I’ll let my client speak for the success of my photograph.

Emails from my client and requests for supporting images:                                                          

Branding Image for Tequila David Reyes

Mike,

The images blew us away!   I shared the images with our tequila marketing experts and here were their thoughts

P.

The bubbles, absolutely!!

1317 is going to look fantastic on Instagram. 1328 is beautiful for the website header and all of the social media headers.

Aficionados know that the bubbles, also known as perlas, are something that one looks for in an exceptional tequila. The fact that these photos make those perlas pop is just fabulous.

That photo has just turned a plain old bottle into an exceptional vessel. Kudos to the photographer!

Would you put a bottle in your freezer to get it really cold then then bring it out to see how a frosted bottle looks in the bucket.  It is a very seductive look.  It would not be a main picture but just an additional picture we could use for social media and the website.  I think you nailed the three pictures.  The picture with the perlas is the money shot.  We may need to add a little context for that picture for the untrained tequila person as to what they are seeing but as you can see from the comments above, the perlas means a ton to a real tequila aficionado

Thanks again.  Wow, did we make the right choice of a product photographer.  You’re off the charts. 

P.

frosted bottle secondary image requested by client

Mike,

Your talent is God given.  First word…Wow!  Now how to choose.  I love the dry ice look and the double bottle.  So at first review, I like 1566 and 1536.  Just WOW!

P.

Mike,

Matt and I just talked and it’s like two kids in a candy store, and we both like the same candy.  So in short, 1566 is a rock star.  We both like 1536 with the bucket but would like to see if you can follow the format of 1566 with the dry ice and having the bottles slightly defrosted (like 1566).  I hope that makes sense.

If not, call me.

P.

Here’s the bottom line:

Wet look requested by client as secondary image to branding image.

Not all photographers or photographs are created equal. If you choose a photographer and photographs casually, most likely you’re leaving a ton of money on the table, because the potential buyer’s first edit is done visually!!

Images are created, and they have a job to do. They are not just pics.

If you need a branding image designed don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my rep Frank Meo.