A Doggy Dogg World isn’t just the name of the third single from Snoop Dogg’s debut album, Doggystyle. It could also be the best way to describe the celebrity sponsorship arena over the last two years. That’s because not only is Snoop Dogg arguably the most recognizable celebrity on the planet—moreover, an easy case could be made that there’s not a person on earth more beloved by brands than Snoop is at the moment.
Which is something that even in his wildest of dreams—not even Snoop himself could have imagined 30 years ago.
Although the rapper, actor, and entrepreneur may be a media darling today, the contrast couldn't be starker as it pertains to the amount of negative press Snoop received during the mid to late ‘90s following the 1993 release of his highly successful debut album, Doggystyle, on Death Row records.
Mostly due to being one of faces of the emerging “gangsta rap” genre, his raunchy lyrics, along with being a defendant in a highly-publicized criminal case (in which he was found not guilty and as of recently, has been sealed), Snoop Dogg (whose stage name at the time was Snoop Doggy Dogg) was one of the most controversial celebrities of the ‘90s. Which is what makes his second act and current popularity on Wall Street such an amazing feat.
Snoop’s recent mainstream success is one of the greatest American rebrand stories of all-time. A story that both brands—as well as brand marketers—could stand to benefit from.
The rebranding of Tha Doggfather
Whether it was carrying the torch at the 2024 Paris Olympics, serving as a guest weather host on the ‘Today’ show, or appearing as a judge on NBC’s hit television series ‘The Voice,’ today’s affable and outgoing version of Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus Jr. almost seems unrecognizable from the person that many hip-hop fans was first introduced to back in 1992 via Dr. Dre’s, Nuthin But A “G” Thang, music video.
A music video in which Snoop often appeared too shy to even look directly into the camera.
As a brand strategist, I’d love to be able to break down for you the branding strategy Snoop utilized that catapulted his career from having his albums being protested against in the streets back in the ‘90s by civil rights activists like C. Dolores Tucker—to co-hosting an Emmy-nominated cooking show with Martha Stewart in 2016.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the success of his personal rebrand, there isn’t a secret strategy one could point to that Snoop executed aside from him doing one thing really well—and that’s be more of himself. Which if you know anything about Snoop D.O. Double G—is always the coolest person in the room.
That brings us to the primary reason to why so many brands are now gravitating towards Snoop. And that reason is because his personal brand essentially embodies something that every brand aspires to—or at least should aspire to be associated with—which is coolness.
“Brands that capture the essential meaning of their category—and communicate that message in subtle and refined ways—dominate the market.” Writes best-selling author Carol S. Pearson and branding guru Margaret Mark in their book, The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes.
Brands fortunate enough to have Snoop accept their lucrative endorsement deals rejoice in knowing that whenever their respective audiences sees Snoop in one of their ads—he’ll convey his essential message of coolness in a subtle or refined way that viewers will instantly associate with their brand.
Some of Snoop’s sponsors
One of the very first lessons that we learn as brand marketers learn is to at all cost—avoid unnecessarily extending your brand. In fact, the very first law listed in the book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, is ‘The Law of Expansion.’
That notwithstanding, Snoop has been able to remarkably expand his brand by appearing in ads for numerous brands without it coming off as oversaturation or allowing it to have a negative impact on his image to this point.
These are just some of the brands that Snoop has signed sponsorship deals with:
19 Crimes
Bic
Burger King
Corona
Grubhub
Hot Pockets
Jack In The Box
Pepsi
Skechers
SodaStream
SoloStove
T-Mobile
Taking into account that all of his sponsorship deals with the above-mentioned brands occurred prior to Snoop’s Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show performance and his having served as a special correspondent at the 2024 Paris Olympics (a role in which he absolutely crushed!), it’s safe to assume that Snoop’s suitors of potential sponsors has significantly increased since then.
The way Snoop has helped change the game
As you may already know all too well, branding is all about two things: image and perception. Great brand marketers don't just think about the image of the brands they work for and how the brand will be perceived by its audience—we absolutely obsess over it! As we should.
Unfortunately, a big part of the reason why so many brands have still been reluctant to embrace hip-hop culture (despite the incredible success rates of the brands that have embraced the culture) is because they feared the association would do more harm than good—as it pertains to how their target audience could perceive their brands.
But similarly to what he did in Tha Dogg Pound’s music video for New York, New York—Snoop has helped crush the proverbial buildings that have housed that outdated mindset of my fellow brand marketers—which is a great thing!
Snoop’s positive impact on the bottom-lines of the brands that he’s partnered with has gone a long way in helping to show brands that consumers are far more progressive and receptive of not just hip-hop culture—but also other aspects of contemporary culture than they’ve been given credit for.
Perhaps the greatest impact that Snoop has had on the brand marketing landscape is that he’s forced brands to take a harder look at many of the misconceptions they’ve had about contemporary culture. As well as the trepidation that they’ll offend oversensitive audiences of the past by embracing the culture—and drop it like it’s hot.
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