Canadian Craft Tequila Brand Finds Perfect Mix of Creative Talent

As the pandemic began to disrupt work life around the globe, employees began to understand the importance of work-life balance. As a result, many individuals started their own agencies or looked to focus on freelance opportunities. Now that work is ramping back up again, agencies, brands, and clients are looking to get new projects and campaigns done faster than before. In addition, many clients have smaller budgets and are looking to be more agile. Independent freelancers and small agencies can help optimize these costs by working together to share resources and expertise.

cada dia tequlia

Three independent agencies did just this when it came time to launch the new, Canadian-owned tequila brand, cada día. Despite first launching in 2019, the pandemic triggered a change in course for cada día, which led the brand to seek a more creative play in the spirits market. Making its debut across Ontario and in select LBCO locations, cada día, hired StudioTwentySix, a boutique social + digital studio based in Toronto, to help develop a detailed launch strategy. Recognizing the need for specialized creative and PR skills, S26 joined forces with two other independent studios to define the creative expression of the campaign and amplify the brand's inspiring story. The specialized collective, comprising S26, creative & tech shop MOD and public relations agency Easy Consulting, represents a growing trend of smaller agencies bringing their niche talents together to build big brands.

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Lead by Daniella Perruccio, an award-winning Social Media Director and Creative Strategist, StudioTwentySix recognized the need for social strategy outside of the traditional confines of agency budgets and hierarchies. The agency exists to grow brand love through social by developing the right message, the right channel mix, the right targeting approach, the right timing, and through the right partnership.

"I’ve worked on agency pitches that cost upwards of $100,000 in agency hours, and I can honestly say that I’ve NEVER worked on a campaign that was developed during the pitch process. The pitch work is almost always “pitch theatrics” and is very often out of budget for the client. It’s designed to wow them in the room, but it's blue-sky thinking and lacks the context of the business. This results in disappointed clients and overworked agency teams. Instead, we focus on what we can bring to the table as a team and why we are the right fit for the client vs trying to wow them with big thinking before we even really understand their business intimately." - Daniella Perrucio, CEO, StudioTwentySix.

When it came to the cada día campaign, the agency joined forces with MOD, a creative & tech studio based in Toronto. MOD offers hyper-specialized talent with a strict focus on design and tech.

"For the last seven years, we’ve been operating a lean, modular work model, matching the right talent for each project, and no one else. It was an unconventional way of working when we first started doing it, but the pandemic has inspired others to start working this way. In my opinion, it’s having a real effect on what agencies are going to look like moving forward” - Ian Graham, CEO, MOD.

The final addition was the PR expertise offered by Sharla Farrell and her agency, Easy Consulting Studio. Easy Consulting Studio is a public relations and digital marketing agency established to provide strategic communications and brand consulting to small businesses and brands. Sharla and her team offer a visionary and holistic approach to developing communications and social media strategies that are both effective and efficient.

“In the advertising and marketing industry, clients want you to understand their business and be dialled into their world in a way that represents being a true extension of their own team. Large corporate agencies are unable to provide this kind of close partnership. We are seeing a shift where brands are seeking valuable one-to-one relationships with their business partners” - Sharla Farrell, Founder and CEO, Easy Consulting Studio.

Be on the lookout for the result of StudioTwentySix, MOD and Easy Consulting Studio's collective effort, which launched in Ontario this week.