Two days before Cinco de Mayo, Don Julio threw an event to champion its Mexican heritage and a contest to award a handful of consumers the chance to visit its "La Primavera" distillery. The late-night bash on Thursday gathered some 500 guests, including New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, rapper Lil Jon, and actor Geoff Stults, to Studio 450, which was dubbed Casa de Don Julio for the evening.
To convert the 12th-floor penthouse duplex into a modern-day Mexican hacienda, the tequila brand brought in experiential agency Relevent Partners, which used some decor items to add color to the white-walled space. This entailed hanging tinted glass lanterns and paper banners embossed with the Don Julio logo from the ceiling, draping serapes (traditional Mexican woven blankets) over furniture, and scattering candles and cacti in terracotta pots around the venue.
Outside, the producers looked to create a Mexican courtyard, decorating the enclosed terrace with string lights and adding two communal tables for folks to snack on fare provided by Mexicue. Female waitstaff sporting black dresses and white hair flowers passed nosh by Bite Food, including flautas (braised-chicken-stuffed fried tortilla flutes with avocado and sesame), mango and cucumber skewers, and red snapper ceviche.
As a way to incorporate the sweepstakes as well as the recently launched "Know Your Summer" app into the design scheme, Relevent placed QR codes throughout the space and printed them on cocktail napkins. Technology was also utilized at the entrance, where staff equipped with iPads quickly checked in guests to reduce the lines.
