The Rise of Ryan Reynolds as a brand builder

Throughout this series of articles, we have explored how different brands approach marketing campaigns and think outside the box to accelerate growth for their businesses. However, we have never explored how people can use their own personal brand to build and support their own business model. This brings me to the rise of Ryan Reynolds to major Hollywood stardom and brand builder. It was a journey that spanned several years of hard work, versatility and honing his comedic talent. In this article I look at how Reynolds used his Hollywood career to explore multiple other ventures, turning himself into a successful entrepreneur and investor.

Marketing Insight

Ryan Reynolds’ early career began with his breakthrough into acting in the late 1990’s. Starring in Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place for all three seasons led to a couple of larger Hollywood movies like Van Wilder and Smokin Aces which established him as a recognisable face in Hollywood. Early in his career, Reynolds often got typecast as the ‘charming’ guy in comedies and, while he found success in those roles, it took time for him to transition to more varied, serious roles. Ironically, his hard work eventually landed him the role of Deadpool which is where everything started to fall into place.

Reynolds has since built a personal brand that is both humorous and authentic. His self-deprecating humour and playful, witty persona resonate with a broad audience. This ability to connect on a personal level has made him more relatable and has helped him gain a loyal following. Reynolds’ online presence, including his social media platforms, reflects his personality and plays a big role in driving engagement and awareness for his own brands, making him an extremely useful tool for many other brands to capitalise on.

Media Innovation

Two examples that demonstrate how Reynolds has been able to use his brand persona, blending entertainment with marketing to great effect in business are Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile. Aviation Gin is one of the actor’s most renowned ventures. In 2018 Reynolds bought a stake in the brand, becoming its public face. He used his personal brand to market the gin in a way that felt less like traditional advertising and more like a fun & engaging watch. An example of this can be seen in the 2019 ad ‘The Process’ which addressed the fact that most people don’t really need another gin ad. The campaign poked fun at typical alcohol commercials by being intentionally over-the-top. It gave the audience exactly what they “didn’t ask for” by making a loud, ridiculous ad that focuses on how unnecessary the ad itself is, while also continuing to promote Aviation Gin.

Another of Reynolds’ business ventures is Mint Mobile, a budget-friendly wireless carrier he purchased a stake of in 2019, becoming its ‘spokesperson’. He used his social media presence and witty persona to promote the brand in a way that felt natural and entertaining. One of the most notable examples of this was the ad ‘Understanding 5G’. The ad was shot in the style of a low-rent infomercial with Reynolds bringing on a special expert to explain what 5G is before declaring that, “I guess we may never know what 5G is,” and giving customers an offer of free 5G. It’s a simple yet effective approach that should encourage marketers to break the mould to be as memorable as possible.

Accelerating Growth

Ryan Reynolds humorous, offbeat commercials helped both brands grow rapidly in both popularity and revenue. Throughout 2019, one year after Reynolds acquired a stake in the company, Aviation Gin went onto see a reported 85% increase in sales, with revenue exceeding $100m. In 2020, Reynolds sold Aviation Gin to Diageo for an estimated $610m, making the actor a significant profit.

Reynolds’ humorous advertisements, alongside Mint Mobile’s competitive pricing, helped the brand grow from a small, relatively unknown carrier with around 100,000 subscribers to a company valued at $1.35bn with 2m subscribers by 2020.

Ryan Reynolds has skilfully used his personal brand to build businesses by investing in companies and creating memorable advertising that play on his humour & relatability to engage audiences. This approach has allowed him to not only become a Hollywood A-lister but also a successful entrepreneur and investor.

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