How George Clooney Grew His Billion-Dollar Tequila Brand Casamigos
The thought process of long time friends George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman behind the launch of their own tequila brand is amusing. Clooney and Gerber only wanted to drink tequila based on their preferences which led them to the idea of starting their own tequila brand. Celebrity-owned and celebrity-endorsed tequila brand is not something new these days, as there seems to be sudden surge of stars who are diving into the alcohol industry. Some of these brands are worth brands are worth every penny, and that includes George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila. Numerous websites have listed Clooney’s Casamigos tequila as one of the best tasting tequila in the market.
Casamigos is a tequila company which was co-founded by American actor and filmmaker George Clooney with his friends in 2013. The tequila brand was launched by Clooney in 2013 with property developer Mike Meldman and nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber. Long time friends Gerber and Clooney were the ones who started the company with the intention of making tequila drink according to their personal preferences as well as for their personal use. During the formation of the company, the two did not intend on making the company public. The company name Casamigos came from Spanish words casa which means house and amigos which means friends, thus Casamigos means house of friends.
Casamigos started as an idea between friends while Clooney and Gerber were spending some time in Mexico. It was Clooney who brought up the idea of creating their own tequila drink while they were spending some time at their house in Mexico. Their goal was to create a tequila drink that they could all day without even getting a major hangover. Clooney and Gerber researched extensively to create the perfect blend to achieve this. Gerber has stated in one of his interviews that they never intended to make money out of it, they just wanted a tequila drink that they can be satisfied with. He stated that they only wanted to make the best tequila as they both do not need money and for that reason, they made the tequila as affordable as it can be.
The company was considered to be one of the fastest-growing tequila brands worldwide which was built by accident. The duo has begun their tequila pilgrimage as they researched on it, they met up with a lot of distillers, tried a lot of samples and did some blind taste tests with their family and friends until they the perfect recipe for their brand. The two have tasted about 700 samples before coming up with the Casamigos blend. After having the perfect blend for their tequila brand, they have met with a distributor in the US who also wanted to get on board with their product. They finally launched their tequila brand with the help of their well connected friend Mike Meldman who later on became their partner in the business.
The growth of the company can be attributed to Meldman who has skills in marketing and catering to the high end market. Meldman was described by Gerber as smart and have numerous incredible connections which made their brand prosper. They have used a basic stick on label with their unfussy bottle and just a plain cork to seal it. Partly due to having Clooney’s name attached to the brand, the brand has immediately took off through the word of mouth. They initially sold blanco tequilas, reposado and anejo which price ranges from $20 to $115 online depending on the size. The brand has doubled its sales volume from 38,000 bottles sold in 2014 to 80,000 in 2015. Gerber believes that they all contributed equally to the success of the company. It was Gerber who ran the company, Meldman does the marketing and Clooney is very involved in the business as well, always making time to visit the company every time he can.
The company’s success was recognized by the multinational beverage company Diageo and had offered to buy the company. After four years of its formation, Casamigos was bought by Diageo for about $1 billion in June of 2017. The said tequila brand acquisition deal made Clooney the highest paid actor for 2018 even though he did not appear in a single movie that year. Diageo offered to pay about $700 million for the company and about $300 million based on the tequila's performance in 10 years time. The deal between Diageo and the three friends equated to Diageo paying about $500 per bottle of the Casamigos.
Clooney was proud of the company, he stated that when they started their tequila brand, they have no idea that they are building a billion dollar company. Clooney believes that the billion dollar offer from Diageo reflects their trust towards the company’s potential and they believed in Diageo as well. Clooney said they are still very involved in the business even to this day. As of June 2021, the brand already sold a million case of their Tequila brand.
Sources: Business Insider, Casamigos, CNBC
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