Presidente used the Dominican musical subcultures of Brooklyn, the Bronx and Santo Domingo, as a way to attack the conventional formula that brands traditionally use to market to Latin customers. The film featured a known up-and-coming director, Sean Frank, and rallied music and culture influencers, YouTube and word-of-mouth marketing via social channels like WhatsApp as the distribution model for building audience attention and viewership. The film was honored at the 2019 Brand Film Festival and garnered accolades and attention within top entertainment culture outlets like Rolling Stone and VICE, a first for the Presidente brand.

The Dominican Republic is an island nation whose soul is powered by music. Its rich sounds and infectious beats reach around the globe. In New York City, the Dominican community brings the vibrancy of its culture to the streets in a bold and unapologetic way. Presidente, the most prominent beer from of the Dominican Republic, aimed to shine a spotlight on a controversial subculture, unknown to outsiders, as a way to celebrate what music means to Dominicans and the lengths they go to share it with others.

Presidente Beer has always stood for championing the rhythm of the Dominican Republic through music – our past partnerships have always been with Latin megastars like Romeo Santos or Gente de Zona. However, some of the most incredible Dominican musicians were already playing their music–at high-volume–on NYC streets.

Presidente partnered with local filmmaker Sean Frank to produce MAS FUERTE, a documentary film about the unexplored, underground Dominican music scene where speaker van “musicologists” meet and play the music of their homeland in often illegal locations.

The film explores how the “musicologists” keep their culture alive, despite often-restrictive environments. From get-togethers at Santo Domingo gas stations to secret spots across NYC’s five boroughs, they battle one another with the ear-shattering bass of custom sound systems, evading the law, and living life at maximum volume, everywhere they go.

As they say, Es ritmo, no ruido. It’s rhythm, not noise.

Latinos make up the largest minority group in the U.S., but most brands are still marketing to them one-dimensionally. For years, consumer brands partnered with Latin music stars to reach this audience – but campaigns were interchangeable-slash—forgettable, and consumers struggle to remember which brand did what.

But Presidente has always championed authentic Dominican pride, celebrating Dominican – not just pan-Latin – culture.

The influence of Dominican music culture in New York, Presidente’s spiritual home and largest market, is profound. A subculture of Dominican “musicologists” – or speaker van owners – has been blasting their music at full-volume for decades.

As a beloved Dominican brand known for championing “rhythm and joy” through music, Presidente had a duty to amplify the voice of these Dominican “musicologists.” In breaking generalizations of Latin music, the brand established a meaningful connection with its core base, and attracted new consumers fascinated by this unique subculture.

Presidente independently produced MAS FUERTE, a 14-minute documentary by Sean Frank. The film was launched in conjunction with Boiler Room and streamed across the globe,

Presidente hosted a launch party at a defunct Getty Gas oil facility to pay homage to the gas stations where musicologists typically throw their parties

Next, the documentary was screened at local festivals. At these and other local activations, a giant Presidente speaker van was created to host retail samplings.

The brand also partnered with local speaker shops in the Bronx to create two custom delivery vans to surprise and delight customers and retailers beyond the event.

During filming, a year’s worth of social content was captured, fueling Facebook, Instagram and YouTube bumpers and pre-rolls that linked to the film’s microsite – www.masfuertefilm.com.

For an investment under 200K USD, Presidente saw a 25% sales lift in key urban markets where the MAS FUERTE campaign was activated.

Press coverage and social conversations saw 100% positive sentiment. Importantly, the film sparked widespread conversation including features in high-influence music and culture publications like Vice and Rolling Stone, and also marketing and business news in outlets like Cheddar and Brandchannel. Beyond positive publicity and attention, the campaign sparked a greater debate around Dominican sound system culture and its impact on local cities, drawing comparison to music cultures worldwide, like London and Brazil, that are endangered by gentrification.

Earned media stories about the film and local events generated over 92MM media impressions.

A significant portion of traffic driving to the film came through WhatsApp shares, the primary social messaging app used in the Dominican Republic.

The film also saw a 9/10 view-through rate on both YouTube and Vimeo.