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When Travis Scott burst onto the music scene less than 10 years ago, few suspected the rapper would become a business mogul. Several successful ventures later, he’s now onto the next: an agave spiked seltzer, Cacti, released today in partnership with AB InBev.
- Cacti is available nationwide at retailers IRL and online, though AB InBev couldn’t tell us which retailers. But partnering with the world’s largest brewer will help with widespread distribution.
- Scott and his Cactus Jack creative team worked with AB InBev on “everything from liquid creation to creative and marketing,” Lana Buchanan, marketing VP at AB InBev’s Beyond Beer unit, told Retail Brew.
La Flame’s cultural influence—especially among millennials and Gen Zers—gives legs to anything he attaches his name to. McDonald’s took note of this in September, and it paid off: Scott’s limited edition McDonald’s meal led to ingredient shortages.
- The Travis collab has allowed AB InBev to “rethink what a typical celebrity alliance could look like,” Buchanan said.
Authenticity sells: Cacti’s aesthetic aligns with Scott’s image as an artist, which is uncommon for many celebrity-backed booze brands, according to Andrea Hernández, author of the CPG newsletter Snaxshot.
- “It’s his personality slapped into a can,” she said. Meanwhile, with “Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila Brand…you could have told me that anybody would have launched that brand.”
Seltzer, you should try it
Travis Scott and hard seltzer have two things in common: 1) They both skyrocketed in popularity, and 2) young people were largely responsible. In 2018, hard seltzer sales reached only $400,000, but hit $4.1 billion in 2020. An August 2020 YouGov poll found 9% of millennials purchased White Claw in the previous 30 days, just behind Bud Light and Corona at 11%.
A spiking segment: While White Claw and Truly are still hard seltzer kingmakers with a combined 75% market share as of last June, new brands are staking their claims.
- Michelob’s Ultra Organic Seltzer has attained 3.83% market share since its January launch, per IRI.
- And Bud Light’s Seltzer reached 10.4% market share in its first year. The company believes seltzers can attract younger drinkers to other Bud Light products, VP of Marketing Andy Goeler told Retail Brew.
The takeaway: The alcohol market is increasingly inundated with new seltzers and generic celebrity-backed liquor brands. Thoughtful and deliberate collaborations like Cacti could feel refreshing to consumers in more ways than one.