See how Orange 142 drove qualified retail traffic for an emerging tequila brand in a highly regulated category.
Over a 60-day campaign, with optimization beginning in week one, Orange 142 delivered measurable performance in a restricted environment where direct e-commerce is limited:
About the Client:
Tequila (and agave spirits generally) have been on a strong, years‑long upswing in the U.S., and they’re now among the top spirits categories. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, sales in the U.S. have grown by 180% since 2002, averaging 6.2% annually.
An emerging tequila wanted to expand retail sales of its spirits through a digital advertising campaign. The goal was to increase awareness that the new tequila was available for retail, and where consumers could purchase it.
The Challenge: Advertising Alcohol in a Highly Regulated Environment
Advertising alcohol requires far more than a standard media strategy. It demands strict compliance with a complex mix of federal guidelines, platform policies, and state-by-state regulations that govern who can be targeted, how messages can be framed, and where ads can appear.
For emerging brands, the challenge is even greater. They must build awareness and drive store traffic while ensuring that every impression reaches an age-appropriate audience in legally permissible locations. Media placements must avoid restricted environments, creatives must meet content standards, and targeting must be tightly controlled to prevent exposure to underage users.
At the same time, alcohol brands compete in highly social, experience-driven categories like nightlife, sports, and entertainment. That means campaigns must balance compliance with relevance, reaching audiences in the moments and environments where purchase decisions are actually made.
For this tequila brand, the objective was clear: drive qualified consumers to retail locations and increase brand visibility among adult audiences, while maintaining full compliance across every channel and tactic
The Solution: Compliance-First Targeting and Optimization
Orange 142 designed a campaign to visitors to the brand’s Store Locator webpage, using a variety of audience strategies and advanced media acquisition tactics to focus on the right consumers.
Advertising for Regulated Industries
The campaign began with a strong compliance foundation designed specifically for marketers in regulated industries. All media was configured to reach only legal-age audiences, using platform age filters, audience data controls, and curated inventory to meet alcohol advertising requirements.
To drive qualified, age-appropriate traffic to the brand’s Store Locator, Orange 142 defined the audience most likely to try the product in a retail setting, focusing on consumers with both category interest and proximity to availability. Tactics included:
- Pixel Tracking to track on-site behavior, including visits to the Store Locator page. This data informed retargeting, lookalike modeling, and campaign optimization.
- Behavioral and Interest Targeting to reach adult audiences with demonstrated interest in sports, nightlife, and premium spirits.
- Contextual Targeting to place ads alongside content related to alcoholic beverages using a custom keyword segment to ensure relevance and brand-safe environments
- Historical geofencing to identify and reach users who visited bars and restaurants that carry the brand.
- Retargeting to Re-engage visitors who had shown interest but had not yet taken action.
Continuous Optimization
The Orange 142 Media Solutions team monitored performance immediately after launch and began optimizing various campaign criteria within the first week. That optimization continued throughout the life of the campaign to drive performance while maintaining compliance. Key optimization actions included:
- Increased bidding and spending on the remarketing adults who visited the website but didn’t take an action on the Store Locator tab.
- Created a lookalike audience using online scoring to isolate the most valuable website visitors.
- Created an adaptive segment to suppress targeting of users who saw a set number of ads, and refocused that ad spend on the valuable audiences.
- Paused contextual targeting and reallocated budget to a new behavioral segment — Boxing & MMA fans — based on data indicating high intent.
Results: Qualified Traffic in a Restricted Environment
Within a 60-day campaign window, Orange 142 delivered strong performance in a highly regulated category where direct e-commerce is limited and in-store purchase is the primary conversion path.
- 4,278 Store Locator Visits. The campaign drove thousands of qualified users to the brand’s Store Locator, directly connecting media exposure to retail purchase opportunities.
- 0.15% Click-Through Rate. Engagement levels were strong for a regulated category with strict targeting controls and limited creative flexibility.
High-Intent Audience Engagement
Website visitors were both compliant and relevant. By combining behavioral targeting and real-world visitation data, the campaign reached adult consumers who were both interested in premium spirits and located near retail availability.
Optimization beginning in week one ensured that the budget was continuously shifted toward the highest-performing audiences and placements, increasing efficiency throughout the campaign window.
Compliance and Performance at Scale
The campaign demonstrates that alcohol brands can achieve meaningful digital performance while operating within strict regulatory frameworks.
By combining compliance-first targeting, real-world location signals, and continuous optimization, Orange 142 created a repeatable model for:
- Driving qualified store traffic in a non-ecommerce category
- Maintaining strict age and placement compliance
- Connecting digital awareness to physical retail outcomes
“For marketers in regulated industries, performance is not limited by compliance requirements. Thanks to Orange 142’s dedicated high-compliance practice for regulated industries, marketers can ensure their digital campaigns drive measurable, real-world results while meeting every regulatory standard.”
Brenton Maddox, Senior Vice President, Client Success at Orange 142
About Orange 142
Orange 142 is a nationwide full-service digital media agency offering a complete suite of marketing services, media solutions, and web development. Our Media Solutions team manages every aspect of a campaign, from planning and activation through optimization and reporting, providing clients with a single, accountable partner from start to finish.
Orange 142 also maintains a dedicated high-compliance practice for regulated industries, helping brands and agencies advertise safely and effectively within strict legal and platform requirements. Through structured onboarding, privacy-safe targeting, and ongoing hands-on oversight, we ensure campaigns are compliant, efficient, and built to deliver measurable results.
