The Brief
“I want to make a tequila called Casa Malka” – founder Jayson Winer said to us over the phone in the spring of 2022. He asked the Nihilo team to create a concept for a tequila to honor Malka Roth, his co-founder and the mother of his three daughters.
“Casa” - house in Spanish
“Malka” - queen in Hebrew
House of the queen.
The Concept
What is the “house of the queen?”
It’s a place that’s welcoming.
A place that’s empowering.
A place that’s sensual.
A royal place, a place of the finest things.
It’s the Queendom.
The anthem “Welcome to the Queendom” became the central point for the entire visual brand; from the custom bottle that hearkens to vintage perfume bottles, to the gold cap that sits atop the bottle like a crown, to the original render scenes full of blooming desert flowers and opulent gold chains.
We put it on absolutely everything.
Labels.
Embossed in the glass of the bottle itself.
Outer boxes are typically boring. Not Casa Malka’s.
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“Welcome to the Queendom” Launch campaign
Displays
Sponsorship Booth
The Long Narrative
The Queendom also became the core concept for the extended verbal identity—a rich, story-driven world that invites the reader into a stark landscape where rawness and royalty co-exist.
Screw “short and to the point” and the “People have short attention spans; they don’t read.” We ignored all of that and created a long narrative, a world of slow seduction and vivid imagery, and used it to introduce the brand to the world. Because the Queen doesn’t rush.
We used this narrative on the initial “coming soon” landing page:
And as the Instagram grid:
Later, we took this “long-winded approach” in merch, gift boxes, Advertising, and more, letting the text itself serve as a design device.
Small Opportunities = Big Queendom
Each SKU of Casa Malka: the blanco and reposado that the brand launched with, and the up-coming Cristalino, maintains their own distinct flavor profile and vibe. We communicate this with text on the label not through describing the flavor (i.e., features), which is boring, but describing the mood and energy–by creating a world for our customers to step into, and to revel in.
Readers can allow themselves the pleasure of being intoxicated – not just by the tequila, which is deliciously smooth, but by the brand world. A little fantasy, a little seduction - just a bit.
And in social media and the website, we took advantage of small opportunities to communicate the Queendom using words – simple, pared back, but loud and completely unapologetic.
Partnerships are Opportunities
From the beginning, Casa Malka aligned itself with different aspects of culture more than with a traditional tequila heritage story. Fashion, design, music, and sports—these key drivers of American culture all play into the ethos and aesthetics of Casa Malka and where it lives on the shelf and in people’s hearts and minds.
In that spirit, Casa Malka served as the tequila sponsor for the summer Fashion Meets Football event in NYC, a platform that “unites athletes, creatives, artists, musicians, executives, and brands in a distinctive setting that delves into cultural influence of sport, fashion, and music through live activations.”
In honor of this event, we created another long narrative that brings the grit and rigor of sports into the Queendom and featured it in full length on a custom line of streetwear/workout wear. At this point, you can also see us using just Queendom™ on its own – a simple and powerful word, ownable (it's trademarked!) and distinctive as both a visual and verbal design asset.
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The Queendom Knows No Limits
As the brand grew and evolved, we added new taglines and messages that still felt within the bounds of the reign, as it were. This was good verification that the simple/strong core brand idea leaves the necessary space for people (not just Nihilo!) to play and come up with other language assets for different scenarios.
Casa Malka realized early on that having a completely additive-free product was a big selling point – additives in many major brands can contribute to hangovers and other unpleasant effects. Jayson came up with the line “Straight From God” (as in, nothing added). We instantly loved it. Who talks about God when marketing a tequila? Now, we do.
Malka, the inspiration behind the brand, also felt that they needed a one-liner that communicated the less-hangover message. She came up with “Rule the night, crown the morning” and featured it prominently on the Casa Malka website. We are thrilled that the team feels connected enough to the brand to riff, experiment, and expand upon it.
We love the world we created for this brand. We love how much it can hold, and how much space remains for what’s next.
Welcome to the Queendom. Stay a while?
-
Thanks to Casa Malka’s incredibly brave founders for the willingness to put words front and center – and to the entire Casa Malka team for making the Queendom more than a concept, but a living place.
Credits:
Brand and bottle design, merch, campaign creative direction, assets: Nihilo
Campaign Production: Rachel Albright
Original Product Renders: Haruko Hayakawa
Campaign/Product Photography: Brian Kaiser
Website Design and Development: Executive
The Brief
“I want to make a tequila called Casa Malka” – founder Jayson Winer said to us over the phone in the spring of 2022. He asked the Nihilo team to create a concept for a tequila to honor Malka Roth, his co-founder and the mother of his three daughters.
“Casa” - house in Spanish
“Malka” - queen in Hebrew
House of the queen.
The Concept
What is the “house of the queen?”
It’s a place that’s welcoming.
A place that’s empowering.
A place that’s sensual.
A royal place, a place of the finest things.
It’s the Queendom.
The anthem “Welcome to the Queendom” became the central point for the entire visual brand; from the custom bottle that hearkens to vintage perfume bottles, to the gold cap that sits atop the bottle like a crown, to the original render scenes full of blooming desert flowers and opulent gold chains.
We put it on absolutely everything.
Labels.
Embossed in the glass of the bottle itself.
Outer boxes are typically boring. Not Casa Malka’s.
“Welcome to the Queendom” Launch campaign
Displays
Sponsorship Booth
The Long Narrative
The Queendom also became the core concept for the extended verbal identity—a rich, story-driven world that invites the reader into a stark landscape where rawness and royalty co-exist.
Screw “short and to the point” and the “People have short attention spans; they don’t read.” We ignored all of that and created a long narrative, a world of slow seduction and vivid imagery, and used it to introduce the brand to the world. Because the Queen doesn’t rush.
We used this narrative on the initial “coming soon” landing page:
And as the Instagram grid:
Later, we took this “long-winded approach” in merch, gift boxes, Advertising, and more, letting the text itself serve as a design device.
Small Opportunities = Big Queendom
Each SKU of Casa Malka: the blanco and reposado that the brand launched with, and the up-coming Cristalino, maintains their own distinct flavor profile and vibe. We communicate this with text on the label not through describing the flavor (i.e., features), which is boring, but describing the mood and energy–by creating a world for our customers to step into, and to revel in.
Readers can allow themselves the pleasure of being intoxicated – not just by the tequila, which is deliciously smooth, but by the brand world. A little fantasy, a little seduction - just a bit.
And in social media and the website, we took advantage of small opportunities to communicate the Queendom using words – simple, pared back, but loud and completely unapologetic.
Partnerships are Opportunities
From the beginning, Casa Malka aligned itself with different aspects of culture more than with a traditional tequila heritage story. Fashion, design, music, and sports—these key drivers of American culture all play into the ethos and aesthetics of Casa Malka and where it lives on the shelf and in people’s hearts and minds.
In that spirit, Casa Malka served as the tequila sponsor for the summer Fashion Meets Football event in NYC, a platform that “unites athletes, creatives, artists, musicians, executives, and brands in a distinctive setting that delves into cultural influence of sport, fashion, and music through live activations.”
In honor of this event, we created another long narrative that brings the grit and rigor of sports into the Queendom and featured it in full length on a custom line of streetwear/workout wear. At this point, you can also see us using just Queendom™ on its own – a simple and powerful word, ownable (it's trademarked!) and distinctive as both a visual and verbal design asset.
The Queendom Knows No Limits
As the brand grew and evolved, we added new taglines and messages that still felt within the bounds of the reign, as it were. This was good verification that the simple/strong core brand idea leaves the necessary space for people (not just Nihilo!) to play and come up with other language assets for different scenarios.
Casa Malka realized early on that having a completely additive-free product was a big selling point – additives in many major brands can contribute to hangovers and other unpleasant effects. Jayson came up with the line “Straight From God” (as in, nothing added). We instantly loved it. Who talks about God when marketing a tequila? Now, we do.
Malka, the inspiration behind the brand, also felt that they needed a one-liner that communicated the less-hangover message. She came up with “Rule the night, crown the morning” and featured it prominently on the Casa Malka website. We are thrilled that the team feels connected enough to the brand to riff, experiment, and expand upon it.
We love the world we created for this brand. We love how much it can hold, and how much space remains for what’s next.
Welcome to the Queendom. Stay a while?
-
Thanks to Casa Malka’s incredibly brave founders for the willingness to put words front and center – and to the entire Casa Malka team for making the Queendom more than a concept, but a living place.
Credits:
Brand and bottle design, merch, campaign creative direction, assets: Nihilo
Campaign Production: Rachel Albright
Original Product Renders: Haruko Hayakawa
Campaign/Product Photography: Brian Kaiser
Website Design and Development: Executive
Further Reading
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