“We realized that summer associations are fantastic and are going to continue to be important for us. But they can limit us to being a brand that might only get selected if someone’s in that moment,” Foley said. “So for us, it was this realization of let’s play to our strengths as a brand. Let’s not move away from being associated with summer. But let’s further define it and open it up as a brand that could transport people into that moment at any time.”
Foley also discusses the importance of music to the Malibu brand, which this year enlisted singer Jax to record a new version of Rupert Holmes' 1979 hit “Escape (the Pina Colada Song),” a natural fit for a star of pina colada drinks. The song and accompanying video are meant to keep Malibu in the cultural conversation, an ongoing challenge for an established brand, Foley said. Malibu was also involved in a video for another “Escape” remix this summer, by DJ Cassidy and Shaggy featuring Rayvon.
“We have a great product. We’re highly relevant throughout the year. But it’s always going to be important to come up with those activations like we did this summer to just keep the brand fresh and something that is buzzworthy and people are talking about,” Foley said.