Athletic Brewing, the most popular non alcoholic beer in the market, recently announced Walker Hayes as their “Chief Fancy Officer”. I am a sucker for giving celebrities a C-Suite title, and here is why:
Fun
Work, should be fun. Marketing, should be fun. Is Walker Hayes expected to come in and do a presentation on Monday morning? Of course not! But it lightens the mood in many facets of the business. Employees can now joke they have one of their favorite artists as a ‘colleague’. Consumers love to know their favorite brands understand their fandom too, so giving an artist they love a ‘title’, will generate more brand loyalty and is a creative way to do a partnership vs. “here, hold this bottle towards the camera and smile”.
Overlap
There are SO MANY incredible overlaps in this move. Walker Hayes has been sober for over eight years. Walker is an authentic consumer, who has a fanbase they can leverage. They call him Chief Fancy Officer, in time for their new product Fancy Like Classic American Pale to release April 25th. This is calculated as his most famous song is called “Fancy Like” released in 2021 and it hits stores right before he heads on tour in May! This partnership is bringing new life and consumption to his hit song (a major win for Walker and his label) and points fans towards a massive moment in the artist’s calendar.
Press
This is a phenomenal story that writes itself. And not just in music publications, many business websites and media companies have done a write up about this partnership. And the C-Suite title is a massive reason for this publicity cross over.
Equity
The beer presale is already sold out. Walker brought Athletic Brewing with him on his last tour. As I already mentioned, this will no doubt shoot his consumption numbers for his song “Fancy Like” and the album it is on (Country Stuff The Album). This makes sense for Walker just as much as it does for Athletic Brewing.
A master class in an offering to artists for a great partnership – a creative/fun idea, with many positive touch points (overlap), that will please existing fans and excite new ones (equity), and can live in many forums (press).