The shot glass isn't the only revered measurement at tequila company Jose Cuervo, marketed by Guinness UDV, Stamford, Conn. Cuervo qualifies and quantifies its competitors'
press coverage as a means of fine-tuning its own media relations strategy.
Here's why: tequila manufacturers have faced a shortage of agave, the prickly plant used to make the liquor. The paucity was largely due to the fact that margarita consumption
had spiked 20% over five years in the U.S. (a positive trend). But news stories negatively focused on the problem. Cuervo wanted to learn how to participate in the news loop to
support its brand image.
Cuervo hired Chicago-based PR 21 (an Edelman agency) to track press coverage on the agave shortage and found that while Cuervo dominated market share at roughly 50%, its
competitor, Sauza, dominated press attention on the issue with only 20% of market share.
"If there was coverage around the issue, they [were shaping] the discussion," says William Jefferson Black, VP of competitive intelligence services at PR 21. Moreover, some
articles discussed beverage alternatives, "cheater tequilas" (liquors comprising less than 51% agave) and "Vodkaritas," which pose a threat to Cuervo's premium positioning.
PR 21 mined competitors' news coverage for positive sub-topics that could be parlayed into a messaging strategy for Cuervo. "We found that tequila was [outgrowing its] 'lick
it, slam it, suck it,' image," Black says and that "demand was going up because Tequila is really cool." In engaging press that had previously covered the agave shortage, Cuervo
countered the notion that "cheater tequilas" would be acceptable in swanky society.
PR 21 analysts now evaluate and label each piece of Cuervo coverage as "positive, negative or neutral" to arrive at a "Net favorable brand score" benchmarked against
competitors' scores. (William Black, PR21, 312/396-9728)