When Marian Leitner-Waldman launched her canned-wine company Archer Roose in 2014, she hit on a relatively untapped market at just the right time. Between 2014 and 2016, there was a 125% increase in canned-wine sales, driven by consumers looking for convenience (enjoying a single-serve can versus opening a full bottle) and more sustainable packaging (aluminum is by far more recyclable than glass).
Archer Roose found its way onto grocery store shelves, as well as onto JetBlue flights and into restaurants and bars—the latter of which accounted for 80% of the Boston-based company’s business.
So in 2020 when the pandemic hit and decimated both the travel and dining industries, Leitner-Waldman, who had also just given birth to her son, knew she had to make some kind of pivot.
“I was up breastfeeding my son at 3 o’clock in the morning thinking, How are we gonna get through this? And the craziest thought entered my mind,” Leitner-Waldman says on the latest episode of Fast Company’s Creative Control podcast. “We’ve always wanted to take our marketing to the next level and connect with consumers differently. And we always said that Elizabeth Banks would be the perfect person to embody the spirit of Archer Roose.”
But Leitner-Waldman wasn’t interested in a celebrity endorsement deal—she wanted the actor, producer, and director to be more ingrained in shaping the brand’s voice. So Banks came on as Archer Roose’s part owner and chief creative officer.
“From my first conversation with her, I said, this is not gonna be sitting in front of the camera saying, ‘This is really great,’” Leitner-Waldman says. “I need you to be bought into the brand and what we’re doing. Then I want you to challenge us to think how we can tell this message differently and funnier and in a way that will really cut through all the noise that exists out there.”
And Banks has managed to do just that.
Several of Archer Roose’s ads starring Banks have gone viral for their irreverent tone, from jokingly referring to Banks as merely a “famous person” to highlighting relatable scenarios like needing a little nip before a PTA meeting or being judged by your neighbors while you bring out your recycling that maybe has one too many glass bottles clanking in the bag.
“We can’t take ourselves too seriously, because we’re wine in a can,” Leitner-Waldman says. “We really felt that humor was the best avenue to connect with people anew, and to help open their minds to consider a totally new format.”
It’s also worth considering how more influencers and celebrities are opting for equity over endorsements.
Take YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, for example. As an avid and very vocal coffee lover, any coffee brand would’ve been clamoring to leverage her massive platform for a sponsored ad or post. Instead, Chamberlain launched her own coffee company. The same goes for Ryan Reynolds with Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile, Rihanna with Fenty Beauty, and George Clooney with Casamigos.
Celebrities starting their own companies is nothing new. But what’s changed over the past few years has been more discernment from consumers on how they’re being marketed to. It’s not enough for an influencer or celebrity to say “Buy this drink.” More and more consumers are looking for a deeper affinity beyond between a star and what they’re selling as a signal of authenticity.
Leitner-Waldman explains how Archer Roose came to be and how Banks has been a key part of the brand’s future. Read highlights from the episode below, and be sure to listen in full on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
Banking on Banks
After Leitner-Waldman’s 3 a.m. breastfeeding epiphany, she reached out to Banks through her talent reps and found Banks more than eager to come on board.
“I’m always trying to figure out as a businesswoman what are the different areas in which I can expand?” Banks said on a previous episode of Creative Control. “I’m an ambitious person. I’m not afraid to say that out loud. And this was an opportunity that was presented to me that really felt like it aligned with my values.”
Leitner-Waldman immediately took to Banks’s business acumen (Banks and her husband run their own film-TV production company, Brownstone); her activism in women’s rights; and, of course, her sense of humor.
“She’s funny as hell,” Leitner-Waldman says. “Archer Roose is rooted in irreverence. It is a respect for tradition, but a recognition that tradition must be constantly reimagined. And the only way to really do that, we felt, was with a cheekiness and humor while still recognizing that wine is inherently sophisticated. And so we needed somebody who could embody all of those qualities—and Banks just really stood out from the crowd.”
Less fussy, more funny
Of course, endorsements aren’t dying out entirely. But there is a shift in how celebrities are choosing to leverage their platforms, and figuring out where a company like Archer Roose fits within that dynamic can be challenging.
“I just think that endorsements, fundamentally, are not as powerful as they used to be,” Leitner-Waldman says. “And that is because social media changed the game. We rely so much more on peer-to-peer recommendations.”
For Archer Roose, Banks has been a crucial part in appealing to consumers with a brand persona that feels relatable and embodies the direction Leitner-Waldman sees for her company.
Leitner-Waldman believes that historically the wine industry has been “condescending to consumers.” And given how craft wine hasn’t had the same level of marketing as, say, beer or liquor, she saw a white space to fill with Banks leaning into something more approachable.
“What we wanted to do was reframe this entirely and say, ‘We’re going to bring you great wines that tell a story, but this is gonna be about you,’” Leitner-Waldman says of Archer Roose’s relationship to consumers. “‘We’re going to tell you stories about your life and how our product fits into it. And we’re gonna tell it in a funny and amusing way.’”
Not your average celebrity
When it comes to celebrities joining or starting a company, the first question most people have is, “How much are they actually contributing?” In Banks’s case, apparently it’s been a lot—even when she’s overseas in Ireland directing a CG bear on a cocaine-fueled killing spree.
Banks’s latest film, Cocaine Bear, was no small feat, as she explained to Fast Company in a recent feature. But given how present Banks was with Archer Roose, Leitner-Waldman says you’d never know it.
“She is like freaking Wonder Woman. She is the most insane multitasker I have ever met,” Leitner-Waldman says. “And I know a lot of working moms. I know a lot of really dynamic people. But she is a whole other level.”
Banks, who not only contributes on the creative side of Archer Roose but is also hands-on with distribution and retail, was actively fielding pitches and meetings remotely while managing the full-scale production of a major motion picture.
“She has a really strong intellectual capacity to connect dots in a very unique and interesting way,” Leitner-Waldman says. “And it also allows her to compartmentalize yet still perform at a very high level.
“I mean, the woman went to Penn,” Leitner-Waldman adds. “She’s not just a pretty face.”
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