Hennessy’s LeBron James bottle collab is the booze brand’s latest culture move

When LeBron James picks up the bottle of Hennessy, you’re not quite sure what he’s going to do with it—until he pops it on his index finger and starts spinning it like a basketball. The fact that this simple Instagram reel quickly hit 20 million views tells you how significant a collaboration between these two mega-brands this is. To mark the launch of the special edition bottle, James and the brand have partnered on a series of social content, including a quiz challenge with James’s business partner Maverick Carter. (Did you know that Hennessy has been name dropped in more than 7,000 hip-hop songs?) [Screenshot: Instagram] Laetitia Laplace, global marketing vice president at Hennessy, says that a collab like this would get attention no matter what, but they aimed to go beyond a traditional brand partner dynamic: “Leaning into his unique personality and tone, his distinctive way of expressing himself on social, and the infinite internet lore around him, we allowed the world to witness what we created through the most authentic lens possible: LeBron himself.”  What’s notable about this new LeBron work is that it’s just the latest example of Hennessy’s knowing its place in culture—how fans talk about and use its products—and then building on that. This isn’t Hennessy’s first bottle collab. Last fall, it worked with rapper Nas to release a limited-edition bottle in commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. It also partnered with Fendi’s creative director Kim Jones, in 2023, who draped the XO bottle with a metal casing, mimicking the tissue paper historically used to wrap the bottles, which subtly masked the logo to read “Henny.” Earlier this year, the brand worked with agency Wieden+Kennedy to launch its “Made for More” campaign. It positioned the brand more as a fun, creative cocktail drink than a centuries-old sip made for a mansion’s oak-paneled study. Teyana Taylor and Snowfall actor, Damson Idris, show off stylishly elaborate methods for mixing Hennessy cocktails, including the “Henny-rita,” with cognac replacing tequila. So far, that campaign has exceeded Hennessy’s expectations, performing more than 1,600% over its benchmarks. Meanwhile, the brand is a major sponsor of the NBA, launched a fashion collab with Mitchell & Ness, celebrated the eighth year of its Cypher Initiative (which showcases rap artists in Nigeria) and its Johannesburg, South Africa-based hip hop festival, Back to the City. “To keep growing the place we have in culture, we start with what people genuinely love about the brand and build from there,” says Laplace. To do that, the brand asks itself three primary questions: What are the norms and expectations set around the brand that they can flip on their heads? What are the stories the brand hasn’t yet told that could shed a new light on it or its audience? How can the brand connect with its audience in a way that challenges everything they expect from Hennessy? “When you’ve been around for 259 years, it’s easy to get stuck in your ways,” says Laplace. “But that makes doing the unexpected thing extremely exciting, without ever losing the essence of the brand. Especially in a category that is so conventional.”