It’s 8 a.m. Need fuel. What could start the day better than Pimp Juice, the neon-green energy drink made by Nelly?
Then fry up some George Jones Country Sausages–“pure pork, no possum,” the once-bad boy of Nashville proclaims.
It could take all morning to choose among threads by Eminem, 50 Cent, P. Diddy and
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J.Lo. This works up a hunger for lunch.
Again, so many musical choices. Bakersfield Biscuits, from country honky-tonker Dwight Yoakam, come with chili or gravy and chicken or beef stew. Then reach for a 12-ounce can of DefCon3, the “healthy carbonated alternative” made by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.
Time to get going on tonight’s marinade. Pinch some ideas from “Eat Like a Byrd,” the new cookbook by country singer Tracy Byrd. Or you can grab a couple jars of his sauces and spices, debuting this month at 1,350 Wal-Marts. Time to mix a vodka and Liquid Ice, Ice-T’s new energy drink.
You need energy to keep up with this stuff.
With the recording industry in the tank, music celebrities–bored with their forays into fashion–are finding a new future in food and beverages. The idea, marketers say, is to strike while the brand is hot, transferring the public’s interest in performers to their pet products.
The leader of the band is Jimmy “Big Bad John” Dean, the former Nashville countrypolitan who 34 years ago introduced his country sausages. The line got so big that Sara Lee bought it, and Dean is now better known for his links than his larynx.
“I hope I’m always remembered for my music–it’s going as good as it’s been in five to six years,” Byrd says. Still, he considers food “a great marketing tool for the music side. … It’s win-win.”
Greg Kirrish, chief marketer for Vista Management, which worked with Byrd, 36, envisions using in-store signs to direct those buying Byrd’s sauces to his cookbook and his CDs.
“It’s this whole branding store-shopping experience,” Kirrish said. “Retailers like that. Everything is tied together. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The singers are taking a lesson from super-marketers such as Oprah and Martha Stewart, said Christie Nordhielm, marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. “There’s no rule that says a brand only works in one category. We’re finally starting to recognize that.”
Does the world need two new blue energy drinks, not to mention one called Pimp Juice?
Don’t underestimate the power of hip-hoppers to move units, Simmons said.
“They’re the best brand-building community in the world,” he said.
The man whose Def Jam and Phat Farm labels have been attached to clothing, music, film, television, a Broadway show and comedy concerts now feels in his bones that “the younger generation wants healthy, carbonated alternatives.”
It’s too soon for Simmons or the rappers to know how their energy drinks are going over, said beverage analyst John Craven. Developing a brand is “a slow road that they’re not really used to,” he said, but “the key is repeat buying.”
A huge fan base doesn’t guarantee success: Who remembers Bing Crosby’s ice cream or Frank Sinatra’s spaghetti sauce?
But the novelty of star power might benefit energy drinks more than country cooking, because such drinks are “badge” products that people consume in public. In their case, Nordhielm said, “the question is whether the celebrity can stay hot. … As goes the celebrity, goes the product.”