Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2011 > May > 19 > Entry
Cinco Vodka Launch at W Austin Hotel & Residences
Does lifestyle marketing work? And, if so, how? Think back on the national reputations that were made when “experiential marketing” put Twitter, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Sweet Leaf Tea, Corona, Red Bull, Gowalla, Shiner Bock, Patrón Tequila and other brands directly into the hands of Austinites and our visitors.
Steve Dean and Al Sommers
Those concentrated campaigns — and others — worked. Austin, after all, is a proven trend-spotting city. Yet recall all the hundreds of parties, pop-up shops and marketing vehicles that saturated this year’s South by Southwest. How many of them do you remember? (The mobbed Apple pop-up store in the Scarborough Building won’t be forgotten soon, but does that brand really need any help?)
Ariana Barrera and Shaniece Parker
Now, along comes Cinco Vodka. This San Antonio-distilled spirit — hand-crafted from amber wheat and filtered through the Cordova Crème limestone of Central Texas — makes heady claims to five-star status. (It was founded by Richard N. Azar III, brother of Austin lighting designer Bryan Azar.)
Bryan and Juliana Azar
On an incredibly social Saturday night in May, the label threw a party at the W Austin Hotel & Residences. A few hundred pretty people — also me — nibbled on snacks, met our San Antonio visitors and sipped Cinco cocktails. They lingered through speeches, music and dancing, alongside the inevitable Cinco ice sculptures.
It was quite the setting to “bring swanky back,” as Cinco leader Steve Dean announced. And the light, wide-lipped bottle is beautifully designed. That’s a crucial ingredient. Ask John Paul DeJoria after the success of his gem-like Patrón containers.
But what could the guests taste, since the vodka was presumably overwhelmed by other cocktail ingredients? Later, I tried some Cinco without the distractions. OK, yes, it is exceedingly smooth. Not to take away from Austin’s various pathbreaking brands, but Cinco does seem to be on its vodka game.
If you can bear to call something mixed with vodka a martini, make this one very, very dry.
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