Celebrity partnerships have been used by companies since the early days of marketing. When done correctly, they can greatly help boost brand awareness.
The key here is to keep your marketing authentic to resonate with consumers. Earlier this year, Casino.org conducted a consumer study on America’s sentiments around celebrity endorsements, finding that most respondents don’t trust celebrity endorsements because they feel it makes the brand lack authenticity and credibility.
However, one beverage brand has found success through its partnership with Waka Flocka on one of its flavors. Now, it is one of the best-selling cocktails in Georgia.
Marketing Nostalgia
Big Sipz, a higher ABV canned cocktail brand, partnered with Waka Flocka on its Purple Punch flavor. Joey Parris, CMO of the brand, attributes the partnership’s success to Flocka’s authentic personality and being able to connect with consumers.
“The Purple Punch flavor is one of the top performing SKUs in the state of Georgia in our category,” he says. “Waka has been an amazing partner, showing up and doing meet-and-greets every week at stores.”
Parris and Flocka have been friends for quite some time, which helped spur the start of the endorsement. “We had just launched Big Sipz and Waka is a friend of mine, so we wanted to do a talent partnership just to get things rolling and help establish the brand,” says Parris.
Since Flocka is from Georgia, it made sense for him to endorse a product flavor with a sense of nostalgia for his hometown ─ and Purple Punch is also a very niche flavor.
“We believed in this vision and thought it was authentic for Waka and his fan base,” Parris explains. “Luckily, we were right. I think it was that organic nature of the flavor being something that he genuinely drinks.”
Showing Up for the Brand
Due to the success of the partnership with Waka Flocka, Parris plans on continuing to grow and build upon the marketing.
“It was originally a set time frame deal, but within the first quarter of it, we doubled the length, and it’s continued to extend,” he says. “We’re going to continue to grow our product lines as well as new form factors, and we’re going to extend Waka’s flavor into those form factors. It’s really exciting.”
What truly helps this partnership flourish is the fact that Flocka is just as excited about the beverage as Parris is. When Flocka does meet-and-greets across the country, he’s not just there because he’s being paid. He actively engages with his fans, taking photos and signing autographs, all while promoting a drink he loves.
“He’s just as excited as we are, so it’s kind of like a match made in heaven,” notes Parris. “He’s also fantastic to work with. He’s just a great person and a great partner.”
The stores that host the meet-and-greets with Flocka also love the partnership.
“These store owners really appreciate us,” Parris explains. “We’re investing in them and their community, and actively showing up. This isn’t just a face on an advertisement ─ this is real, and it resonates with the customers.”
Future Celebrity Partnerships
As successful as the partnership with Waka Flocka has been, Parris knows that the only reason it’s working so well is because of how authentic and genuine Flocka is with Big Sipz. Finding partners like that are rare, so he’s being cautious about future collaboration plans.
“We are in conversations with many other talents and brands that want to work with us, but we really only want to find authentic partners like Flocka that are going to invest their time and energy similarly to him,” says Parris. “We don’t want to work with someone that’s just trying to take a check and throw their name on something.”
Staying true to authentic partnerships, Big Sipz just dropped a new flavor called ‘Merica for Veteran’s Day in partnership with Veteran’s non-profit, Folds of Honor. The company has committed to donate $1 per case of the new ‘Merica flavor to Folds of Honor.
The best part? There’s no limited-time donation ─ it will be ongoing with sales.
To celebrate the launch, Big Sipz welcomed 13 veterans to do a surprise photoshoot with famed photographer Charlie Nucci. The Veterans were welcomed to a photo and video shoot where they were given the platform to share their stories and what Veterans Day means to them.
Big Sipz surprised these Vets with $1000 cash each and will be sharing their amazing stories on social media throughout the year, shining a light on these heroes.
