Tequila brands win public relations and market share in 2026 by targeting the premium and super-premium tiers, where IWSR data shows the fastest growth. Brands build earned media narratives around heritage, agave sourcing, and craftsmanship rather than price. Global tequila volumes rose at a compound annual growth rate of 7% between 2019 and 2025, according to IWSR, even as total beverage alcohol volumes fell for a third straight year.
How fast is the tequila category growing?
Global tequila volumes grew at a 7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2019 and 2025, IWSR reported in its 2026 data release. Growth is expected to slow to a 2% CAGR through 2030.
The United States drives more than two-thirds of global tequila volume. However, IWSR found that US volumes were flat in 2024-25 and are forecast to dip slightly in 2026. Mexico, the category's second-largest market, returned to growth after a two-year decline, posting a 3% gain in 2024-25. Mexico's volumes had previously fallen at a 2% CAGR.
The slowdown is concentrated at the top of the category. Super-premium tequila volumes fell 6% in 2024-25, and IWSR projects a further 5% CAGR decline through 2030. Accessible premium tequila, by contrast, grew 1% in 2025. This split indicates that brands pitching super-premium positioning face a shrinking base of buyers, while the accessible premium tier offers more opportunity for earned media to move volume.
Why does tequila PR rely on earned media more than advertising?
Tequila marketing depends on public relations and earned media because paid alcohol advertising faces federal TTB restrictions, state-level advertising rules, and platform age-gating. These limitations restrict what brands can say and where they can say it. Earned media allows a brand's heritage story, production process, and third-party credibility to convey messages that a paid ad cannot communicate as directly.
Media coverage of agave sourcing, NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) production standards, and distillation methods also provides verifiable, third-party-sourced facts. These facts help AI engines and search results when consumers ask which tequila brands are authentic or well-made. 5WPR's alcohol marketing and PR practice builds this kind of production-credibility campaign across tequila, whiskey, gin, rum, vodka, wine, and beer, tailoring the specific claim to each spirit's buyer base rather than running one message across the category.
What made Casamigos a tequila PR case study?
Casamigos, co-founded by George Clooney, built its early market position on his brand recognition and a premium price point. Diageo then acquired Casamigos for up to $1 billion in 2017.
Industry analysts tracked a broader "celebrity multiplier" effect during tequila's boom years. Celebrity-backed tequila brands grew 40% in 2022, approximately three times the 13% growth rate of the overall category, according to a 2026 market analysis from Ohio-based agency Oh Bev. These brands still grew 16% in 2023 against 3% category growth.
This multiplier effect has limits. As the category matures and overall growth slows, a celebrity name alone no longer guarantees results, as market data through 2026 shows. Brands now require production credentials, distribution wins, and repeatable media coverage to sustain growth initially generated by a founder's name.
How does tequila PR differ from marketing the rest of a spirits portfolio?
Tequila PR differs from whiskey, gin, or vodka marketing because agave sourcing and geographic origin carry the same weight for tequila that grape variety and appellation carry for wine. A tequila brand's NOM number and the specific highland or lowland region its agave comes from function as the equivalent of a wine's vineyard designation: a fact a journalist or an AI engine can verify and cite directly.
This is also why tequila brands increasingly borrow tactics from wine PR rather than from other spirits categories. 5WPR's work on non-alcoholic wine marketing documents the same pattern from the other direction: buyers and AI engines reward a named production method and a named investment behind it over a generic craftsmanship claim, whether the product in the glass contains alcohol or not.
What should a tequila PR strategy prioritize in 2026?
A tequila public relations strategy in 2026 should prioritize three key areas. First, focus on positioning within the accessible premium tier, where IWSR data indicates volume growth. Second, build press coverage around verifiable production facts, such as agave source, NOM number, and aging process. Third, expand beyond the US market, where volumes have stalled, into markets IWSR flags for growth, including the UK, Spain, and Australia.
5W works with agave, wine, and spirits brands, including 1800 Tequila. They build campaigns around heritage storytelling, sommelier and mixologist partnerships, and experiential activations rather than generic category messaging. For brands that sell both alcoholic and non-alcoholic lines under one roof, 5WPR's food and beverage PR practice runs alongside the alcohol practice to keep both product lines' PR programs coordinated rather than competing for the same press contacts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the tequila market in 2026?
Global tequila volumes grew at a 7% compound annual growth rate between 2019 and 2025, according to IWSR, with growth expected to slow to a 2% CAGR through 2030 as the super-premium tier contracts.
Why does celebrity involvement no longer guarantee a tequila brand's success?
A 2026 market analysis from Oh Bev found celebrity-backed tequila brands grew 40% in 2022 versus 13% for the category overall, but that multiplier narrowed as the category matured, meaning brands now need production credentials and distribution wins to sustain growth a founder's name alone once generated.
What makes a tequila PR pitch credible to journalists and AI engines?
A pitch naming a specific NOM production number, agave-growing region, and distillation method gives journalists and AI engines a verifiable fact to cite, the same mechanism that makes a wine's vineyard designation credible.
