Topo Chico x I Love Chamoy | "A Taste of Monterrey"
The Challenge: As part of Topo Chico's newly formalized brand partnership strategic framework, the brand sought to bring its first wave of “Hidden Gem” collaborations to life — small-scale, grassroots partnerships rooted in deep cultural resonance and genuine community connection.
The Opportunity: Nina identified I Love Chamoy, a better-for-you Mexican candy sauce brand rooted in Monterrey, Mexico, as a highly aligned “Hidden Gem” partner. As Topo Chico’s birthplace since 1895, Monterrey sits at the heart of the brand’s story, making the partnership a meaningful celebration of shared hometown heritage. With overlapping community-driven values and complementary brand voices, the opportunity was clear: spotlight two Monterrey-born success stories in a way that felt authentic and additive to both brands’ identities.
The Work: In December 2025, Nina led the development of “A Taste of Monterrey” — a limited-edition kit designed to bring regional Mexican flavor traditions to consumers, media and creators nationwide. The kit paired Topo Chico Mineral Water with I Love Chamoy’s signature rim dip, serving up everything needed to recreate the zero-proof “Sabor de Monterrey” Michelada ritual at home.
The partnership leaned into heartfelt, founder-led storytelling honoring both brands’ common roots and growth stories. Working closely with the I Love Chamoy founder and Coca-Cola stakeholders, Nina led partnership concepting, planning and execution, cultural positioning and earned media strategy from insight through launch.
She integrated Coca-Cola’s Senior Marketing Director Fred Mitchell as a brand spokesperson — facilitating select media interviews and driving message development to anchor the collaboration in heritage, brand significance and broader business context — while overseeing media outreach and targeted creator seeding to amplify the shared Monterrey story across culturally attuned and Latino outlets.
The Impact: The partnership demonstrated that collaborations rooted in place, heritage and lived experience create deeper emotional resonance than typical, trend-driven brand collaborations — validating the “Hidden Gem” partnership model in practice and proving that culturally grounded storytelling can scale impact while preserving the authenticity central to Topo Chico's identity.
The program delivered 30 high-quality placements with 90% key message pull-through, securing coverage in leading Latino culture outlets BeLatina and Culturizando Mundo — centering the shared Monterrey narrative, featuring commentary from Coca-Cola’s Fred Mitchell, and elevating Topo Chico's multicultural relevance.
Strategic seeding of 20+ limited-edition kits extended reach and encouraged hands-on product engagement among existing “Truth Seekers” and new brand fans alike.
