Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Snoop Dogg – and he’s been just about everywhere this summer, from taking centre stage at the Olympics dressage to promoting a line of luxury garden stoves.
But just why has the West Coast hip hop icon proved such a popular proposition for brands and events in recent years? After all, this a man once heavily associated with ‘gangsta rap’ – to he extent that he was charged with first-degree murder in 1993, before eventually being acquitted in 1996.
Despite semi-frequent brushes with the law in the intervening years, Snoop Dogg has worked hard to shed this ‘gangsta’ image – which had seriously threatened to put his family’s safety at risk – in favour of a persona infinitely more palatable for both mainstream media and the boardroom.
Whatever the general sentiment might be about his past – it would seem the rapper has succeeded in making most of us forget about it.
From the pen to the track
The truth of the matter is probably much more nuanced than simple re-invention – with the celebrity come-back story proving to be a very popular trope in modern media-crazed culture.
For most people under the age of 30 today (besides classic rap aficionados perhaps), Snoop Dogg’s murder charge and very public trial have all but disappeared from collective memory.
Instead, he is today seen by most Gen Z and younger Millennials as the wholesome face of a bygone era of rap, at a time when the genre has seemingly been mired in one petty celebrity dispute after another.
“Snoop Dogg isn’t the first celebrity to win back the hearts of the public after a questionable past, and he won’t be the last – Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder and Martha Stewart have all been subject to controversy but have since enjoyed fruitful careers with lucrative brand deals,” Joan London managing director, Tom Ghiden explains.
In a rather comical reversal of that famous Dark Knight line; it would seem that the ‘villain’ has lived long enough to become the ‘hero’. Snoop Dogg is now fully re-born as a family-friendly entertainer, considered to have such a resounding cross-generational appeal that he was asked to play a major part in the Olympics’ closing ceremony.
Dude London creative director, Tomas Gianelli summarises this transformation perfectly, pointing out: “What’s truly fascinating is how such an edgy figure has evolved into a beloved, family-friendly personality. Our theory? He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and people of all ages and backgrounds love that.”
“Throw your hands in the air, if youse a true player”
Aside from his obvious talent for reinvention, it’s clear Snoop Dogg is also an able hand at honing and developing his own unique brand, which has proved immensely influential within popular culture over the last 30 years.
You’d need to travel far and wide nowadays to find someone between the ages of 15-65 who doesn’t know Snoop Dogg is – and that is as glowing a testament as any to the monumental brand reputation that the Californian has been able to build since he first burst onto the scene in the early 1990s.
But how exactly has he done it? By staying unashamedly true to himself and his art, Ghiden believes – minus the gang violence of course: “People love authenticity and Snoop has only ever been pure with who he is and where he comes from. There is no facade to hide behind, people know what they’re getting.
“He is inherently lovable. While he comes from a hip-hop background which has always felt unobtainable for certain brands to break into, Snoop is the opposite. He’s comical and playful, creating quite the dichotomy. And it is this perfect equilibrium that appeals to mass audiences.”
It is this ‘inherent lovableness’ that has truly helped Snoop Dogg catapult himself into a family and brand-friendly icon, the perfect example of a man who has overcome his struggles for the better – and is likely why he is increasingly often chosen to be the face of multi-million-pound marketing campaigns for global brands such as Just Eat, Corona and SodaStream – to name just a few.
“I mean, who else could seamlessly jump from being one of the most memorable stars at the Olympics, to the aptly named ‘Blunt Marketing’ campaign to promote a range of smokeless fire pits? Yet it somehow makes sense, simply because it’s Snoop Dogg.”
And perhaps it really doesn’t need to be more complicated than that – he is simply an immensely successful musician who has been able to turn his unquestionably appealing authenticity into a highly lucrative marketing empire
Gianelli has the final word: “Snoop embraces his controversial past with unapologetic humour, always ready to pop up in an ad, emerging from a cloud of smoke, bringing the kind of refreshing light-heartedness that people—and brands—crave today.
“Or as Snoop would say, ‘Keep it real, and sprinkle a little fo’ shizzle on top’.”