Alcohol brands reach consumers in one of three ways. Some sell direct, through their own online store or tasting room. Others sell only through distributors and retailers, where the three-tier system puts a wholesaler and a store between the brand and the person who buys the bottle. A few do both. Whatever the model, the challenge is the same: talking with the people who drink your product, and learning what matters to them.
When done right, texting is a direct line to your biggest fans and works in every one of those models. Here's how six brands use Community to reach consumers directly and learn from every reply.
How are alcohol brands using Community?
Each of these brands started somewhere different, and each had its own reason to talk to consumers directly.
Weber Ranch & Tex: a bartender in your pocket
Weber Ranch makes vodka from 100% Blue Weber Agave. The team wanted a way to educate consumers, share the brand's unique origin story, and build genuine relationships with fans. But traditional marketing channels weren't built for that kind of connection. Texting was a direct channel that got their message out and drove engagement, while also building a loyal audience along the way that could grow alongside the brand.
After finding success in texting their biggest fans, they launched Tex, an AI-powered mixologist that lives in a text thread and shares cocktail recipes with ingredients fans love, as well as what’s inside their fridge.
In its first six months, Tex held more than 4,000 conversations, and over 57% of those members came back to chat again. A seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte martini campaign recently earned a 14.4% click-through rate. Members also told Tex, right in the thread, when they went to a store and bought a bottle. That direct connection tells them more than any distributor’s sales report ever would.
Read the full Weber Ranch case study.
Memo Ochoa & Gran Centenario: fans as the soundtrack
Gran Centenario Tequila has been made in Jalisco, Mexico since 1857, and it's the official tequila of the Mexican National Team. For the 2026 World Cup, the brand ran Memos for Mexico, a one-time activation with team captain and goalkeeper Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa, who asked fans, in an Instagram post, to share a recording of themselves singing "Cielito Lindo." Fans texted in, and the best entries became part of the team's hype track for the tournament.
Not every texting program runs all year. Memos for Mexico tied a single campaign to a moment fans already cared about. Every entry came from a fan who chose to opt in.
Jim Gaffigan's Fathertime Bourbon: parenting, bottled
Comedian Jim Gaffigan started Fathertime Bourbon in 2024 with college friend Stu Pollard, and he built it on the material that made him famous: being a dad of five. Gaffigan hand-picks the barrels and signs every bottle, so the bourbon carries his voice before anyone pulls the cork.
His fans hear about every release by text. When Fathertime launched Golden Child, its single barrel edition, at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Gaffigan texted members by first name with a link to buy. The message made the stakes plain: only a limited amount was available, and they'd likely be gone by the end of the week.
When The Caboose series won Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, members got the news by text too, with a nudge to order in time for Father's Day.
Small batches sell to the fans who hear about them first, and a personal text puts them at the front of the line.
Bert Kreischer & Por Osos: from the stage to the shelf
Bert Kreischer co-founded Por Osos vodka with fellow comedian Tom Segura. His fans already travel from city to city to see him perform live, and the vodka brand carries the same party-first persona they know from the stage.
When Por Osos landed at Publix stores, Bert texted his local fans: "FELLOW FLORIDIANS - I HAVE HUGE NEWS!!!" and an on-brand image of the co-founders, letting them know that the product was available at Publix across Florida.
Ahead of a sequence of Por Osos fan pre-parties to which he invited text members, segmenting his message to fans in each location.
One message tells fans where to buy, and the next gives them a reason to show up.
Read the full Bert Kreischer case study.
Michael Franzese Wines: connecting with wine drinkers
Michael Franzese built a large online audience through his speaking, books, and videos, and many of the people buying Franzese Wine are new to wine entirely. A one-on-one channel gives first-time buyers somewhere to ask what to pair with dinner.
Not every text sells a bottle. Franzese texts members when he goes live on YouTube for his "Cook Like a Boss" cooking streams, and he's used the same line to promote his cookbook. The cooking, the stories, and the wine all come from one voice. Keeping that voice in members' phones between offers is what makes the next invitation land.
To celebrate 75 years, Franzese hosted a small private dinner in Fort Lauderdale and sent an invitation only to members in Florida. The text came from him, used each member's first name, and made the stakes clear: one coveted seat left, with a link to claim it. The campaign earned a 42% click rate and a 9% response rate.
NOCA: from the text thread to the store aisle
NOCA makes non-carbonated alcoholic water infused with electrolytes. It sells something shoppers haven't seen before, and a shelf tag has limited room to explain it. Texting gives NOCA the space needed to educate their audience about what's in the can, point shoppers to the stores that carry it, and hear back from them directly.
When its Weekend Water Apple flavor hit shelves in Southern California, NOCA texted members there with exactly where to find it. Then it gave consumers a reason to check it out. Members who sent a photo with the new product at one of those stores entered for a chance to win a freebie, no purchase required.
NOCA also brings members into product decisions. When the brand was working on a packaging redesign, it sent members a survey asking them to help choose, and 18.5% clicked through to weigh in. People who help shape the new look have a reason to go find it on the shelf.
What's next?
Whether you sell to consumers directly or through others, that relationship is yours to build.
Distributors move cases, and retailers stock shelves. Neither one will ever get to know the person who liked your product enough to buy a second bottle.
Build that relationship using texting as your direct channel and start cultivating your own audience today.
Curious what a text line would look like for your brand? See how Community works.
