Rappers And Hip-Hop Artists Partner With Brands For Multichannel Marketing Activations

Corona, the beer, has had a strange few months since the same-named pandemic swept the world. However, sales of Corona have been strong, and the beer’s partnership with rapper Snoop Dogg, announced in March, came to fruition last week with the release of several new commercials kicking off the beer brand’s new “La Vida Más Fina” campaign. This isn’t Snoop’s first time partnering with a brand on a marketing campaign, and many other rappers have also found success as brand ambassadors for products ranging from beer to fashion.

Snoop Dogg Teases New Corona Ad Campaign On Instagram

The new Snoop Dogg spots show the famous rapper enjoying the beach life, and epitomizing the cool, relaxed image that both he and the famous beach beer embody. The campaign, dubbed “La Vida Más Fina,” celebrates the good life. The spots are airing during the NBA playoffs and Snoop Dogg teased the campaign on his Instagram account, garnering more than 720,000 views. 

The campaign will deploy an “ensemble of personalities that embody the Corona vibe,” said a Corona spokeswoman. “Snoop Dog is the first of many ‘Relaxed Mavericks.’ With each iteration of the campaign, there will be a different cultural icon extolling the virtues of easy living and how Corona fits into their lives.”

Post Malone And Bud Light Use Comedy To Promote New Bud Light Seltzer

Post Malone, a hip-hop and pop musician, has leveraged his meteoric rise to fame for campaigns with Doritos and Bud Light. The musician’s unique tattoos and sense of humor are playfully used by the brands, most recently in a pair of Super Bowl commercials, one for the new Flamin’ Hot Limon Doritos and the other for Bud Light Seltzer. The Bud Light Seltzer commercial, #PostyBar, includes Post Malone’s internal thoughts, direct from a command center of busy workers inside his brain. All appropriately tattooed, of course. 

Malone’s partnership with Bud Light started soon after he joined Bud Light’s Dive Bar Tour in 2018, and the collaboration has led to a number of commercials and activations, including a beer can with Malone’s mug on it, with the limited edition rollout of the can happening in cities where Post Malone had tour stops. The marketing deal has been beneficial to both parties, with Digital Music News noting, “For those that enjoy the taste of Bud Light and the music of rapper Post Malone, the best of both worlds have now been combined. The massive branded partnership builds on Post Malone’s professed love of Bud Light, with Budweiser subsequently offering a gigantic check to make the relationship official.”

Cardi B And Reebok Partner For Design Inspo And Twerks

Rappers are known for their creative, trendsetting fashion sense that pushes the envelope and inspires designers and consumers alike. Many fashion houses and brands have tapped hip-hop artists and rappers as brand ambassadors and models. Reebok’s collaboration with Cardi B, which includes Cardi B-inspired sneaker designs and appearances in Reebok commercials, capitalizes on the rapper’s audacious personality. 

The rapper’s most recent commercial for the sneaker brand features a runway of Cardi B lookalikes (and Cardi, obviously) wearing the brand’s new sneaker, Zig Kinetica, and cat-walking down someone’s front walkway — with some twerking thrown in. “Zig the Runway is about being unexpected and unapologetic about your style,” said Cardi. “I always do me and keep people guessing and that’s what we’re showing off in this video. [The] Reebok Zig Kinetica isn’t like any other shoe that’s come before it and this fashion show is like nothing that has come before it. We’re breaking the mold and blazing our own trail — that’s what Reebok is about.” The campaign includes the hashtag #zigtherunway and dropped during Fashion Week in February 2020.

As Brands Increasingly Want To Appeal To Younger Consumers, Hip-Hop Artists Are Good Marketing Partners

Rap and hip-hop artists appeal to younger consumers who aren’t concerned with squeaky clean images, but prefer authenticity, humor and inclusivity from brands. It’s likely that brands will continue to leverage the popularity of these musical acts via partnerships, activations and other multichannel marketing strategies. “As consumers, we no longer have to tolerate brands trying to sell us products by showing us the same type of person which may not look like us,” said Casandra Malowanczyk, Director of Strategy at a creative firm. “We want to see different bodies, different ethnicities, different ages and abilities… Brands have now had to respond by being more inclusive and more diverse in the types of people that they’re representing in their campaigns.” 

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