Stay Thirsty My Friends

For all of you who don’t know, Corona is not the only Mexican beer out there. I think that they have done a good job of marketing it to the world, but it is not the only Mexican beer out there. If you notice somewhat of an angry tone to the last sentence it’s because there is one. Let me tell you why. As someone who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, I have the dislike towards Grupo Modelo (the makers of Corona) in my blood. Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma (CCM), the makers of beer brands such as: Tecate, Sol, Carta Blanca, Bohemia, Indio, and Dos Equis XX is attributed to be one of the forerunner companies responsible of making Monterrey the 3^rd biggest and most industrial important city in Mexico after Mexico City. In Monterrey, we take our “northern” heritage very proudly; so do the people in the “central region”, the makers of Grupo Modelo. Just to make full disclosure, the fact that my grandfather worked in CCM his whole life might seem as a case for bias, but the fact is that just by being from Monterrey makes anybody biased.

Now that I have laid the grounds on how passionate I am about the topic, let’s get down to business. I think the topic of social media is an extremely important one to talk about these days. It is amazing to me how much attention and participation sites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Linkedin, and Wikipedia have managed to produce and to the rate that people like you and me have accepted them in our everyday lives. Just as is pointed out in Groundswell: beyond actual technologies being used, what is amazing to see is how the relationships are changing everyday with the implementation and acceptance of these technologies. It is these relationships that are changing and evolving in a very unique and increasingly rapid manner.

To be perfectly honest, I am not an innovator when it comes to these new cyber technologies, but I am a very fast imitator. When everyone started using Facebook it took me a little time to really embrace it and see its use. So, the same thing happened when people start talking about how Facebook can be used with businesses and marketing. I really didn’t see its application. Of course it was easy to see the power of the tool and how much advantage it could bring if someone were able to apply it to their business, but it was just hard for me to understand how that could be done; at the beginning. But like I said, I am a fast imitator and it didn’t take many examples of how companies have successfully used Facebook to understand the great potential there is for marketers using this tool.

With this said, I want to use an example that will tie perfectly with my proud representation of the excellent Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc products out there. The beer I want to talk about is Dos Equis XX. Apart from being an excellent beer (this is a whole other topic I could talk about in detail), it is an excellent marketable product. This beer has existed in Mexico for almost 100 years and has just recently made its very successful jump into the US market. The reason for success: The Most Interesting Man in the World. It could have been the green bottle, or the “X’s” in the name, or the good quality of beer, that made this beer so successful in the US, but I think what ultimately made is such a success is this person I mentioned: The Most Interesting Man in the World. And that is his real name. The Most Interesting Man is in a set of commercials that make him just what his name says he is. He has fought tigers in India, wrestled with bears, arm wrestled with Russian Mafia, and saved countless lives. His tag line at the end of his commercials he says: “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends”. If you havent’ seen any of the commercials I invite you to do so, they are hilarious.

Now back to Facebook. This character has been such a success that CCM has been able to market him as an actual person. You can find his profile in Facebook and be his friend. He has pictures of himself and more than 200,000 friends. Since he is known for his sarcastically funny quotes, people add to them in his wall for others to see. The great thing about this media is that CCM has been able to “lure” all of these customers to the Dos Equis XX experience through The Most Interesting Man and use this page in Facebook to understand the customer base better and get feedback of their insights and needs. There is a road show about “interesting people” that Dos Equis sponsors and all the event’s updates and photos are available in this page to see. What is amazing to me is that the page’s administrators use The Most Interesting Man to actually chat with their customers and get their thoughts and insights! The power of this tool is so incredible that you actually believe that the guy actually exists and is not just an actor playing his role!

This is also a great way for CCM to be proactive and lessen the risk of having this media used against them. As we saw in Groundswell, not all is good for companies with the existence of these social media initiatives. You now have no, or very little control of what people can say about you and this is just one way to level out the bad with something good (in case there are any bad comments about your brand).

So, I encourage you to become friends with the Most Interesting Man in the World and maybe, just maybe, he will invite you to his next hunting trip to Malaysia.

Stay thirsty my friends,

Salud! Rolando