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Bacardi Rum, leaning further into music as a key driver in its marketing, kicked off its most significant artist collaboration to date with a global campaign featuring pop star Camila Cabello.
The new relationship marks the first time the liquor brand has signed a performer to a multiyear pact, according to Roberto Ramirez Laverde, Bacardi Rum’s global senior vice president.
For the next 24 months, Bacardi and Cabello will be making frequent appearances together, ranging from concerts and festivals to broadcast TV spots and billboards in major U.S. and international cities.
“Music is our recruitment tool, and it plays an important role in how we connect with consumers and become part of their conversations and celebrations,” Laverde told ADWEEK. “We have so much in common with Camila—she embodies the spirit of the brand—and this is probably one of the biggest campaigns we’ve ever done.”
The alliance—one year in the making between the Cuban-American singer and the Cuban-born brand—is Cabello’s first dive into alcohol endorsements. That was especially attractive to Bacardi, along with the chart-topper’s “electrifying energy,” as booze and A-listers overpopulate the collaboration space.
“It’s not an easy journey to find the right partner,” Laverde said, noting that some of Bacardi’s previous short-term relationships could have better leveraged the artist-brand mashups. “It was important that Camila be deeply involved in the creative process so that it’s not just a traditional advertising campaign—it reflects our DNA, the lifestyle and her new image.”
The formerly brunette Cabello made a splash early this year with a dramatic platinum blonde makeover in the run-up to her fourth studio album, C, XOXO, dropping in June.
Luving it
Cabello recently released the first single from the record, “I Luv It,” which serves as the Bacardi ad’s soundtrack. The 30-second commercial debuts tonight during National Basketball Association broadcasts on ESPN and TNT.
The dance-infused, sun-drenched spot, shot in the Dominican Republic and directed by Canada co-founder Nicolás Méndez, comes from agency BBDO New York. Cabello’s creative team, including French choreography collective (La)Horde, helped develop the video, which ends with a rocking block party against the beachfront Santo Domingo skyline.
Cabello considers Bacardi to be “the quintessential rum brand” that’s “synonymous with the spirit of the Caribbean,” she said in a statement.
Bacardi—whose artist relationships have included Swizz Beatz, Anitta, Major Lazer, Kendrick Lamar and Ellie Goulding—found a hand-in-glove fit with the 27-year-old Cabello for targeting “the next generation of rum drinkers,” Laverde said.
The partners are a personality fit as well, with “a light, fun vibe,” according to David Schwab, executive vp at Octagon and analyst in celebrity-brand connections. The multiyear arrangement means “they have a chance to be thoughtful in marketing efforts that make sense to their audiences.”
Cabello kicks off a world tour this summer, and Bacardi is still in talks for specific activity, Laverde said.
Rum punch with a twist
As part of the partnership, Cabello created a signature cocktail, a twist on the classic rum punch. The “I Luv It” punch is made with passion fruit, lime, coconut water and two products from the Bacardi line, Superior rum and St-Germain elderflower liqueur.
Bacardi—with brands in its parent portfolio like Grey Goose, Bombay Sapphire, Patron tequila and Dewar’s—will also distribute the new Cabello-centric ad across cable channels like BET and VH1; digital and social platforms such as YouTube, Vevo, Peacock, Hulu, Disney+, Paramount+ and Snapchat; and Spotify audio.
Out-of-home ads will appear in Mexico, the Netherlands, the U.K., India, Latin America and other territories.
The new work continues the brand’s “Do What Moves You” message, now in its sixth year, and premieres as Bacardi is revving up its festival activations via an ongoing Live Nation partnership and sponsorships at American and global events.
