JAJA Tequila Is Building Their Brand Upon Social Media Savvy And Connecting To The Millennial Generation.

The key to success for any alcohol brand is getting eyeballs turned your way, something that seems to get exponentially harder each year as new products fill an already crowded marketplace. But one upstart tequila brand has done just that, and they seemed primed to explode over the next few years.

JAJA Tequila was launched in 2018 by three members of the Millennial generation with no prior experience in the alcohol industry. Still, they did know how to tap into their generation’s consciousness. A big reason for that was that one of the co-founders was Eliot Tebele. He is the creator of one of the most significant Instagram feeds on the planet, @FuckJerry, and one of the co-founders of Jerry Media, a sometimes controversial media company that uses its knowledge of the millennial mindset to create viral advertising and content. Another big reason for the brands’ success is that one of their primary investors is The Chainsmokers, one of the world’s biggest DJs. Between these two, the JAJA has access to an audience of over 38 million.

By tapping into these considerable resources, the rest of the team behind JAJA, co-founders Maurice Tebele (Eliot’s brother) and their childhood friend Martin Hoffstein charted a successful path forward. Their brand is nationally distributed and has experienced triple-digit growth year-over-year.

One of the first things they did with the brand was find a white area to exploit. Looking at the emergence of craft and premium tequila’s they felt that most brands were taking themselves too seriously. They built around a straightforward message, one that still drives the brand, “Keep Laughing.” In a tongue-in-cheek move, they chose a name that would stand out. JAJA is Mexican online slang for ha-ha or LOL. Eschewing the more somber tones they noticed on the shelf, their bottle design focused on pastels and lightness.

“Tequila as a spirit is a fun, upbeat, exciting thing. It’s social. It’s vibrant,” says Hoffstein. “Yet we don’t see other brands conveying that message through their brand voice. We saw this void as an opportunity to be different and capture an audience who appreciates the experience of drinking tequila with friends.”

Then they turned to social media to get their name out there. Humorous and different posts hit their feeds to convince their core millennial consumers to spend their money on their brand. One they deliberately placed in the middle of the pricing structure. Blanco and Reposado, their first two offerings, were priced between $35-$45 on the shelf, below most premium offerings but above the Cuervo’s and 1800s’ of the world. Value for the dollar and creating an impulse buy were key components they built around to ensure that they hit their target demographic.

“Social media is the nexus of everything we do. It’s how we tell our brand story,” says Hoffstein. “We create content that’s relatable and relevant, and that makes our fans smile. If they like what we have posted, even if it’s obviously fake, and start to share it, then our name gets spread, and more people become comfortable with us.”

That inroads with their consumers allowed them to stay connected when their primary platform for introducing their new brand to the public shut down during the pandemic. On-premise sales were booming for the brand as they gained placements in bars, restaurants, and clubs in the months leading up to the shutdowns. When they all disappeared overnight, they were able to lean on their distributor Southern Glazer for support. Pitching their brand to some of the largest off-premise retail chains in the country, they used their platform to show that their consumers would search out their products from home. They substantially expanded their footprint during the pandemic and used that to gain access to the Canadian market this summer. 

Much like the YOLO trend that swept the internet several years ago, they hope to build JAJA into something much bigger. They plan to roll out at least one new product this year and are working on an RTD beverage to debut soon. They have more ideas on the drawing board.

“I wouldn’t be surprised one day if we had a clothing line, an edibles line, live shows, and more. We see JAJA as a lifestyle brand, something that you can expand beyond tequila,” says Hoffstein. “The possibilities are endless, and we are just going to keep chasing them.”