Executive Street News

Tequila Avion – Product Placement at its Very Best

I’ve been a fan of the HBO show ‘Entourage’ since it debuted more than 5 years ago. It’s a half hour fun respite which offers a view into how things might be in Hollywood. There are thirteen episodes per year and next year is the last season and there apparently will only be 6 episodes made or so. It’s gotten so popular that it is being moved to syndication although I have trouble seeing how that will work since the language and content both appear to be not ready for broadcast television.

This season one of the story lines has Turtle helping his now girlfriend Alex promote her Uncle’s tequila brand made in Mexico called Tequila Avion www.tequilaavion.com . A good and interesting story line that branches out into nearly all the characters (not the Ari Gold character brilliantly played by Jeremy Piven but I’d love to see Ari getting blotto on Avion).

What I did not realize until this week is that Tequila Avion is an actual product sold in stores. I saw a billboard promoting the brand and my jaw kind of dropped. A story in the New York Post this month http://bit.ly/bQ2tnb offered background on the founders of Avion and how they did not pay a penny for all the ‘priceless publicity’ for the new brand.

I had noticed that ‘Entourage’ does promote a number of brands at various times during the show. Johnnie Walker Blue, Belvedere Vodka, Skyy Vodka, (lots of alcohol), Bluetooth, Victoria’s Secret to name just a few all have been featured.

What makes it work so well is that the placements are seamlessly integrated into the story and they feel appropriate and right such that I really don’t notice that this is an obvious marketing tactic during the context of the show itself.

This is a trend that is growing and will continue to grow. Nobody likes a cheesy come-on but Tequila Avion is one of the first brands I can recall to be introduced within the context of a television program. I have no problem with it when it is done right as it is in the case of Tequila Avion

What do you think – is this a good trend? Bad trend? Does it offend you?

16 comments on “Tequila Avion – Product Placement at its Very Best

  1. Robert Brands on said:

    Mark I agree and while watching with my boys we mentioned how smart it would be to launch the brand. In NYC while walking under the PanAm building from Grand Central to Park Ave came across window display full of Avion, happy to send you picture :)

    • I will be out of the office with limited access to email from Monday 9/13 through Friday 9/17. If you need immediate assistance please contact Marc Figueroa at marc.figueroa@vistage.com or call me on my cell at 760-224-5457

      Otherwise I will get back to you as soon as possible.

      Cheers,

      Andy Ramirez

  2. Robert Brands on said:

    Mark I agree and while watching with my boys we mentioned how smart it would be to launch the brand. In NYC while walking under the PanAm building from Grand Central to Park Ave came across window display full of Avion, happy to send you picture :)

  3. They didn’t pay anything to be on Entourage which makes it so amazing. The tequila itself is the best I ever had. Patron in real trouble with this new tequila.

    • I will be out of the office with limited access to email from Monday 9/13 through Friday 9/17. If you need immediate assistance please contact Marc Figueroa at marc.figueroa@vistage.com or call me on my cell at 760-224-5457

      Otherwise I will get back to you as soon as possible.

      Cheers,

      Andy Ramirez

  4. They didn’t pay anything to be on Entourage which makes it so amazing. The tequila itself is the best I ever had. Patron in real trouble with this new tequila.

  5. My boyfriend is a big tequila fan and had it the other week–he thought it was fantastic, and agrees that it will give Patron some serious competition. Also thought it added a cool factor because it was featured on “Entourage.”

    • I will be out of the office with limited access to email from Monday 9/13 through Friday 9/17. If you need immediate assistance please contact Marc Figueroa at marc.figueroa@vistage.com or call me on my cell at 760-224-5457

      Otherwise I will get back to you as soon as possible.

      Cheers,

      Andy Ramirez

  6. My boyfriend is a big tequila fan and had it the other week–he thought it was fantastic, and agrees that it will give Patron some serious competition. Also thought it added a cool factor because it was featured on “Entourage.”

  7. Linkbuildr on said:

    Loved the post Mark! I was quite impressed with their marketing efforts that I took a look in depth at it all. Since the brand is in its infancy, it’ll be quite an interesting climb in the Tequila world. I imagine one more season should make that company a pretty penny in the end;

    http://www.linkbuildr.com/tequila-avion-entourage-big-brand-linkbait/

    • I will be out of the office with limited access to email from Monday 9/13 through Friday 9/17. If you need immediate assistance please contact Marc Figueroa at marc.figueroa@vistage.com or call me on my cell at 760-224-5457

      Otherwise I will get back to you as soon as possible.

      Cheers,

      Andy Ramirez

  8. Linkbuildr on said:

    Loved the post Mark! I was quite impressed with their marketing efforts that I took a look in depth at it all. Since the brand is in its infancy, it’ll be quite an interesting climb in the Tequila world. I imagine one more season should make that company a pretty penny in the end;

    http://www.linkbuildr.com/tequila-avion-entourage-big-brand-linkbait/

  9. My question is “how could people not think the tequila is a real product on the show?” The storyline with Turtle is so humdrum and only focuses on the tequila, that it seems obvious it’s a huge marketing scheme. It’s sad that one of my favorite shows has really sold out in a bad way.

  10. My question is “how could people not think the tequila is a real product on the show?” The storyline with Turtle is so humdrum and only focuses on the tequila, that it seems obvious it’s a huge marketing scheme. It’s sad that one of my favorite shows has really sold out in a bad way.

  11. GUS5301 on said:

    TEQUILA ME SI PRENDONO COME QUESTO E PENSO DI AVERE UN MERAVIGLIOSO E RECOMANDATO AI MICI AMICI

  12. GUS5301 on said:

    TEQUILA ME SI PRENDONO COME QUESTO E PENSO DI AVERE UN MERAVIGLIOSO E RECOMANDATO AI MICI AMICI

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