Branding Icons:  Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg

One of the most memorable commercials aired during the 2022 Super Bowl was the Bic EZ Reach Lighter featuring business moguls, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart.  In the 30 second spot, the company declares, “Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart agree – the BIC EZ Reach is the ultimate lighter for candles, grills…and more….”

The two business powerhouses and branding geniuses met back in November 2008 on The Martha Stewart Show.  Since then, the 50-year-old rapper and 80-year-old lifestyle icon collaborated on many projects including Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party on VH1 in 20016, and Snoop and Martha’s Very Tasty Halloween in 2021.  Their friendship of more than a decade continues to simultaneously delight and astound many, making them one of pop culture’s beloved odd couples.  The one thing both share is their astounding business acumen and branding brilliance.

Brand marketing doesn’t just promote your product or service; it emphasizes your whole brand through telling your service or product’s story.  It is how you build awareness of your brand, establishing who it is for and what it is all about.  With Martha and Snoop, their individual stories are central to their brands and product lines. 

Martha Stewart has been a household name since the 1980s.  From cooking to catering to institutional stockbroker to writer and television host, this woman has done it all.  Martha created her brand not just through hard work but through knowing her audience and capitalizing on that knowledge.  Even after serving her five-month sentence in a federal penitentiary on charges related to an insider trading case and the subsequent years of house arrest, Martha dusted herself off and reestablished her brand, even pairing up with the most unlikely co-star, Snoop Dogg.

Snoop Dogg emerged as a gangster rapper from Long Beach.  Thirty years later, the Gin and Juice hip hop legend crosses over all genres from commercials to movie appearances and even a cooking show with Martha Stewart.  The musician turned multiplatform entrepreneur maintains his relevance by staying true to his brand. 

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Snoop shares how he manages to stay relevant: “The easiest thing to you can do is just do you.  I felt like doing me would be the easiest path to me remaining relevant in the industry.  It’s originality and uniqueness.  I just try to do me.”

And that’s the crux of what makes both Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog branding icons.  Both have stayed true to their brands, and both have an accurate gauge of their respective audiences.

Their most recent team up with 19 Crimes wine, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg continue to extend their brands in a joint effort, drawing from their unlikely friendship, keeping their audience curious and intrigued at the same time.  These two prove the basic tenant of brand building:  know your brand, know your audience, and tell your story.