Sports keynote speaker Alex Rodriguez takes a swing on a new walk of life: marketing beer. After his successful baseball career, the famous sports speaker, shortstop, and third baseman is moving on to something new.
After being a Yankee, Texas Ranger and Seattle Mariner, Rodriguez is the new chairman and co-owner of Presidente, the Dominican beer brand owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev.
In an exclusive interview with Forbes, Rodriguez stated the he feels “like it’s family,” adding that unless someone is from the Dominican Republic or grew up with it, “it’s hard to explain to others.”
This deal hasn’t put out many details yet, but Rodriguez shares that he believes the beer hasn’t been as successful in the U.S. due to the temperature that it should be served. He states that it must be served very cold, and if it isn’t served frothy white, the consumer will get offended.
The VP of Marketing for Core & Value Brands, Ricardo Marques, shares that the company has been having growth in the single-digits. However, the partnership with Rodriguez will be “with us every day looking to grow the Presidente brand.”
Marques states, “He’s so passionate about the brand and I assure you that he knows this brand better than I do. It;s part of his culture and where he come from so we’re really looking for his vision of where he thinks this brand should go.”
Due to beer drinkers and consumers looking for beers that are lighter in calories and alcohol content, the beer industry as a whole has been on a decline. Therefore, this marketing strategy will not be easy for Rodriguez.
Although Presidente is the first beer company Rodriguez has worked with, it’s not the first brand. Alex Rodriguez has worked with Pepsi, Planters peanuts and the coconut water Vita Coco.
Rodriguez shares his real, long term intentions with working for certain brands, he states, “I don’t look at this from an investment or a marketing opportunity. I look at this as a way to story-tell and brag about one of the best brands.”
For now, Rodriguez has led the brand to be marketed in heavily Dominican populated areas on the East Coast such as New York and Miami, but is working on a national marketing strategy for opening day of baseball season. He shares that he will be starting with a big activation at Yankee Stadium.
Reposted from Forbes.com
