What brands can learn from harnessing Snoop Dogg’s OG mindset

Snoop Dogg is one of the most successful artists to come out of the 1990s West Coast hip-hop scene, bringing his mindset and magic to everything from red wines to children’s shows. 

Whether by instinct or design, [Snoop] has written the lyrics to how a modern brand needs to show up.

Much has been made of his canny investment choices, his clever partnerships and his ever-evolving persona. But, from a brand point of view, you’ve got to admire his ability to connect with people across generations, demographics and culture. 

Whether by instinct or design, he has written the lyrics to how a modern brand needs to show up. Here are three ways in which brands can listen and learn from Snoop’s OG mindset.

Above: Snoop has partnered with Corona, among many other brands.

Own your full story 

As he famously said with his much quoted, “You’ve got to always go back in time if you want to move forward,” Snoop Dogg owns his whole story. He proudly owns his roots, the ups and downs of his journey, the successes and the mistakes, and he turns them into business gold. 

Where weaker brands tend to only focus on what the official narrative is, Snoop embraces the good and the bad. He owns it all, from his criminal past (turning it into tongue-in-cheek partnerships, like Cali Red Wine with 19 Crimes, for example), to the esoteric slang of his youth. He owns Californian laid-back cool, and childlike joy and wonder in equal measure.         

Strong brands need to acknowledge the entirety of their brand narrative and show they’re part of the wider cultural conversation. 

Like Snoop Dogg, strong brands need to acknowledge the entirety of their brand narrative and show they’re part of the wider cultural conversation. They need to feel more human – nobody is perfect – and not always strive to present a perfectly glossy façade. 

That brand narrative shouldn’t be just about what you want to broadcast, all curated and controlled, it also needs to know the meme, the not-so-inside joke, what the internet says and how creators are responding in order to feel truly authentic.

Above: Snoop's partnership with Cali Red Wine plays on his criminal past. 

The delight of the unexpected 

“Showin' much flex when it's time to wreck a mic” (Nuthin but a G Thang). Yep, Snoop also knows a thing or two about staying culturally relevant. Again and again he does the opposite of what people associate him with; the kids show, the BIC lighter, the partnership with fintech company Klarna. 

Modern brands need to consider the counter-intuitive audiences for their brand.

He knows to surprise and delight – to flex – when it’s time to shake things up. Along the way, he widens his audience and reaches new heights of cultural relevance. His collaboration with Martha Stewart, for example, was the ultimate in opposites attract, helping rappers go mainstream on daytime TV in the process. Snoop doesn’t follow trends, but intentionally aligns with cultural shifts. 

Just as Snoop knows to reach beyond his obvious communities, modern brands need to consider not just the subgroups and fandoms that nerd out on their products, but the counter-intuitive audiences for their brand. They need to make cross-cultural connections normal and surprise with the unexpected in knowing and creative ways.