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In the episode titled "Top shelf: How Patrón stays premium with craft and conviction in a digital world," Matt Britton sits down with Roberto Ramirez Laverde, Global Senior Vice President of Patrón Tequila at Bacardi, to unpack what it takes to defend a super premium tequila brand in a crowded, algorithm-driven marketplace.
The central tension is clear. Tequila has exploded over the past decade, with more than 700 new entrants since 2019 alone. Celebrity-backed labels flood shelves. Social feeds reward hype over heritage. Gen Z is drinking less, but demanding more. In that environment, how does a brand like Patrón protect its position without diluting what made it iconic in the first place?
The business stakes are significant. Premium spirits operate on margin, not volume. If brand equity slips, pricing power follows. If culture moves faster than leadership teams, shelf space and menu placement disappear. In a world where attention spans are measured in seconds, brands that rely on one-way messaging risk irrelevance.
Matt Britton, CEO of Suzy and author of Generation AI, frames the conversation around speed. Culture is not static. Technology is compressing timelines. Consumers expect dialogue, not broadcast. Roberto's perspective matters now because he oversees global strategy for a brand that helped define the super premium tequila category. Patrón did not just ride the agave boom. It built the blueprint.
What emerges from the conversation is a clear Patrón tequila marketing strategy: protect craft, lead with transparency, embed in culture, and use technology as a tool without losing human connection. For business leaders navigating premium positioning in a digital world, the lessons extend far beyond spirits.
The modern tequila boom did not happen by accident. It was built on brands that elevated the category beyond shots and salt. Patrón was at the center of that shift.
Roberto makes it explicit: "Patrón helped to define the super premium tequila category." That statement carries both pride and pressure. When a brand pioneers a segment, it inherits responsibility for protecting it.
The problem today is saturation. With hundreds of new tequila brands entering the market in recent years, many attached to celebrity names, differentiation becomes harder. Consumers face a wall of bottles, each promising authenticity.
Patrón's insight is simple but disciplined. Protect what made the brand iconic: uncompromising quality, authenticity, and deliberate pace. Roberto repeatedly returns to transparency and process. Patrón tequila is made with just three ingredients: agave, water, and yeast. No additives. No shortcuts.
This focus on additive-free tequila is not marketing theater. It is a strategic bet that consumer knowledge is increasing. Roberto notes that consumers are becoming more discerning. They want to know what is in the bottle, who made it, and what it stands for.
The application for leaders is clear. In any premium category, the path to defensibility runs through product truth. Brand storytelling can amplify, but it cannot compensate for a weak core.
Patrón's commitment to craft shows up in multiple dimensions:
In Generation AI, Matt argues that AI will increase efficiency but also amplify mediocrity. When tools lower the barrier to entry, more competitors flood the market. That is precisely what has happened in tequila. The brands that survive are those with substance behind the label.
For premium brand leaders, the takeaway is blunt. When categories heat up, double down on fundamentals. Scale awareness, but never outsource integrity.
In a noisy media landscape, brand campaigns often drift into vague aspiration. Words like excellence and greatness get overused. Patrón's "Pursuit of Greatness" campaign attempts to anchor that idea in process, not platitudes.
Roberto defines greatness as "not cutting any corners." That is operational, not abstract. The campaign extends from distillation to storytelling. It connects the making of tequila with the making of art.
A key execution was the collaboration with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Roberto highlights why the partnership works. Del Toro is known for building physical sets, using real light, and remaining hands-on even when easier digital options exist. He refuses to compromise on process.
That ethos mirrors Patrón's production philosophy. The "Perfect Pour" initiative elevates a simple act into something cinematic. Instead of pushing product features, the brand dramatizes ritual.
The business problem is attention scarcity. Roberto acknowledges three realities:
The insight is that storytelling must be integrated and culturally relevant. A campaign cannot rely on a single channel. It requires a 360-degree approach that spans online video, social media, in-person activations, and earned media.
For CMOs and brand strategists, this reinforces a shift from media-first to idea-first planning. The idea must travel across platforms without losing coherence. In a digital world, premium brands win when every touchpoint reflects the same standard of craft. That consistency is what separates category leaders from the noise.
Matt often speaks at global conferences as an AI keynote speaker about how technology reshapes distribution, not desire. Desire still comes from human narrative. The Pursuit of Greatness campaign demonstrates that premium storytelling works when it is rooted in operational truth.
One of the most consequential shifts in the spirits industry is generational. Gen Z is drinking less alcohol overall, yet trading up when they do drink. That dynamic changes everything about how premium brands plan for growth.
Roberto describes Gen Z as "far more intentional about how, when, why and what they are drinking." Volume is down. Value is up. Quality over quantity. Craftsmanship over hype. Experiences over excess.
The problem for legacy brands is that historical growth was often driven by frequency. More occasions. More units per occasion. Gen Z disrupts that equation entirely. Their relationship with alcohol is more deliberate, more informed, and more selective than any generation before them.
The insight is that drinking has become more ritual-driven and social, not transactional. Younger consumers want to understand the story behind the product. They are open to discovery but selective. They will pay more for something that feels authentic and culturally relevant.
This aligns closely with Matt's thesis in Generation AI. Younger generations are native to algorithmic environments. They have developed filters. They spot inauthenticity quickly. Brands that cannot pass that test get scrolled past and forgotten.
For Patrón, the application is alignment. Its long-standing commitment to craft and transparency maps directly onto Gen Z values. Instead of chasing trends, the brand reinforces what it already does well.
From a marketing strategy perspective, this requires:
Gen Z also values experiences over possessions. Roberto notes that more than 70 percent of consumers are prioritizing experiences over gifts or material goods. That data point informs Patrón's investment in festivals, pop-ups, and immersive environments where brand interaction becomes a shared moment rather than a transaction.
Leaders in other categories should pay attention. If your growth strategy relies on heavier usage per customer, you may be misaligned with generational behavior. Premium growth now depends on occasion quality, not just occasion count.
In premium spirits marketing, distribution is not just logistics. It is brand architecture. Where and how consumers encounter a product shapes how they value it.
Roberto draws a distinction between on-premise and off-premise channels. While off-premise drives the majority of volume, on-premise builds the brand. Bars, restaurants, and nightclubs are where consumers experience the full expression of a product.
Bartenders and staff become "partners in crime," as Roberto describes them. They are gatekeepers and storytellers. Their advocacy influences what consumers order and how they perceive value. This channel is where a recommendation carries weight, where a pour becomes a preference.
For Patrón, the on-premise channel remains a cornerstone. It is where rituals form. It is where visibility at the top shelf signals status. It is where cultural moments are born.
Packaging plays a complementary role. Roberto points out that packaging is the second driver of awareness after media. Patrón recently evolved its iconic bottle by optimizing visibility and adding tactile elements inspired by agave patterns. The goal was modernization without erasure. The brand maintained its classic silhouette while updating details that catch the eye in a crowded retail environment.
Cultural partnerships extend that equity beyond retail. Music has been central to Patrón's strategy for decades. Current collaborations include artists like Becky G and Karol G, as well as festivals through Live Nation and a partnership as the official tequila of the Grammys.
These partnerships serve multiple functions:
In an AI-driven world, Matt argues that physical presence becomes more valuable, not less. Digital can drive awareness, but memory is often formed offline. The integration of hospitality, travel, music, and product creates immersive ecosystems rather than isolated campaigns.
For leaders exploring premium positioning, the lesson is to treat channels as narrative stages. Retail, on-premise, events, and digital must reinforce the same core story. Inconsistency at any touchpoint erodes the premium perception that took decades to build.
No discussion about modern marketing is complete without addressing AI. Roberto acknowledges that the industry is living through a period without precedent. Dozens of technologies are reshaping how brands operate and connect with consumers at every stage of the journey.
Patrón uses AI as a tool for efficiency and exploration. It helps teams be more effective and test new routes to market. But Roberto is clear: human connection remains the anchor. No algorithm can replicate the experience of stepping into a curated environment, sharing a drink, and being present in a moment.
This perspective mirrors Matt Britton's broader body of work. Through Suzy, he helps brands tap real-time consumer intelligence to inform decisions faster. Data accelerates insight, but it does not replace empathy. The smartest brands use AI to understand their customers more deeply, then deploy that understanding through experiences that feel personal and human.
The risk with AI is over-automation. If every brand optimizes to the same algorithmic signals, differentiation erodes. Roberto's emphasis on experience counters that risk directly.
At festivals like Lollapalooza, Patrón creates a Hacienda pop-up within the event. Consumers step into a curated environment, share cocktails, and connect with others. It is an experience within an experience. These moments cannot be replicated digitally. They create the kind of brand memory that drives long-term loyalty and word-of-mouth advocacy.
This is strategic. As digital interactions multiply, in-person moments gain scarcity value. Brands that facilitate authentic gathering can command premium perception in ways that paid media alone cannot deliver.
For executives, the practical application is balance. Invest in AI for analytics, media optimization, and operational efficiency. But allocate budget to experiences that build emotional equity. The brands winning in 2025 and beyond are those that pair data-driven precision with human-centered execution.
Leaders interested in how AI reshapes marketing strategy can explore Matt's insights at mattbritton.com/ai-keynote-speaker or review themes from Generation AI at mattbritton.com/generation-ai. The throughline is consistent. Technology should enhance human connection, not replace it.
Patrón stays premium by focusing on uncompromising quality, transparency, and small batch production. It emphasizes additive-free tequila made with agave, water, and yeast, and aligns campaigns like "Pursuit of Greatness" with its production philosophy. The brand protects its core identity while evolving packaging, partnerships, and experiences to remain culturally relevant.
On-premise locations like bars and restaurants shape brand perception and ritual. They allow consumers to experience the product in context, influenced by bartenders and social settings. While off-premise drives volume, on-premise builds equity and cultural credibility, especially for super premium tequila brands seeking long-term pricing power.
Gen Z is drinking less frequently but choosing higher-quality options when they do. They prioritize craftsmanship, transparency, and authentic storytelling. This shift pushes brands to focus on value over volume, invest in experiential marketing, and communicate clear origin stories that resonate with intentional consumption habits.
AI supports efficiency, media optimization, and consumer insight generation. However, leading brands treat AI as a tool rather than a replacement for human connection. Data informs strategy, but experiential activations, cultural partnerships, and in-person moments remain essential for building emotional equity in premium categories.
Patrón's marketing strategy offers a blueprint for premium brands navigating digital acceleration and cultural fragmentation. Roberto Ramirez Laverde underscores that craft, transparency, and adaptability are not nostalgic values. They are competitive advantages. Matt Britton reinforces that in a world shaped by AI and shrinking attention spans, the brands that win are those that pair technology with human experience.
For leaders seeking deeper insights into culture, consumer intelligence, and the future of brand building, explore more at The Speed of Culture podcast and learn about Matt's speaking and advisory work at mattbritton.com/speaker-hq.
Hear more conversations like this one on The Speed of Culture podcast at speedofculture.co. The pace of culture will not slow down, and the brands that adapt with conviction will define the next decade.
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