How Jay-Z And Diddy Made Millions Off Of 'Cheap Grapes'

Zack O'Malley Greenburg, author of 3 Kings: Diddy, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, and Hip-Hop's Multibillion-Dollar Rise discusses how hip hop moguls, Jay-Z and Diddy, leveraged their fame to create two million-dollar brands. Following is a transcript of the video.
Zack O'Malley Greenburg: Just goes to show how you can leverage your fame beyond just the music.
About a decade ago The Economist interviewed the director of the company that makes Cristal Champagne, one of the most expensive champagnes in the world favored by Russian tsars over history, he was asked, what did he think about all these rappers drinking Cristal Champagne and he basically said, "Well, we can't forbid "people from buying it." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of a new customer base. He thought that rappers didn't read The Economist but he was wrong. Jay-Z heard about his comments, he removed it from his 40/40 Club, and more importantly he started issuing this sort of, directive to his fans, not to drink it either.
And instead of rapping about Cristal, he put his money where is mouth was, he ended up investing in, and eventually taking over French champagne brand called Armand de Brignac, AKA Ace of Spades. You see this in his videos, the gold bottles, he raps about it all the time, and this has now become one of his most valuable assets in his entire portfolio.
Diddy does not have his own champagne, however he has something just as or perhaps even more valuable, which is his deal with Diageo's Ciroc vodka. He started out with them in the late 2000s, and at that point, Ciroc was just a middling vodka brand being shilled by no-name former NFL players. They decided to take a chance on Diddy, and they didn't really have anything to lose, because Ciroc wasn't doing very well. It was about the fiftieth ranked vodka in the world and so Diddy came on and he applied his typical marketing panache and his shock and awe salesmanship, this was around the time that Barack Obama was running for president. He started calling himself Ciroc Obama, giving that free product placement, within only a few years, Ciroc was number two in the premium vodka category, to only Grey Goose doin' about two million cases a year.
There's a really fascinating connection between Diddy and Jay-Z in the spirits world. Between the two of them, I mean you think, you know same job description, hip hop mogul, two very different guys, two very different approaches. But born a month apart, in the same city, both named Shawn and they both use the same cheap grape as the base of two of their most important products, that's the Trebbiano grape, which is considered by wine officials to be, you know sort of a, a nothing grape, it's a filler, it's table wine.
Jay-Z has a Cognac called D'Usse, which is a joint venture with Bacardi. Of course, if you're making Cognac, it doesn't really matter because they're grapes that you have to include in order to be officially called Cognac. As far as Diddy's Ciroc vodka goes, using grapes is rather unorthodox, vodka is typically made out of potatoes or grains or something like that. So that was kind of his first philosophy with Ciroc is to center on the sexiness of the grape.
Diddy: One-and-a-half ounces of Ciroc vodka, you can only make it with Ciroc vodka, other vodkas don't work.
Greenburg: One thing that gets kind of lost in all of the promotion of Ciroc and such, is that Trebbiano is actually a very cheap grape and not some super-fancy thing.
At the end of the day, Jay-Z and Diddy are both excellent, savvy businessmen. Of course they're not gonna get the most expensive grape because in order to do well on a product, you have to have a low cost, and you have to have a high price. They've grasped that better than anybody and the success that they've had with Ciroc and D'Usse certainly go to prove that as well.
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[@omegaman6616]

Was Diddy just curling?

[@Prhyme22]

Kenny Omega CGI

[@Danny-fs1hk]

Yep, that was cool! 😂

[@MrHumes-nv1zr]

I was looking for the photoshop

[@megadethguym7977]

Ive tryed both they arrent that good they are over hyped

[@deepmaidenforce]

It's from a Ciroc commercial during the 2018 Winter Olympics. It's diddy really on the ice, whether that stone ended up anywhere near the target is 100% mystery. Didn't seem like bad form though, super smooth release

[@Sum_Guy]

Can we take a moment to appreciate Diddy doing some curling.... Look at the intensity in his eyes.

[@Sal-zi4tu]

Diddy is the most intense and successful Black guy alive

[@topside2]

Next feature Nike. Title the segment "The most expensive cheap material you'll ever wear."

[@jblack8149]

topside2 My Air Maxes held me down for a couple years

[@blacknwhitetruthfully5325]

topside2 u predicted the future lmao 😂. Colin

[@spongebobsquarepants2175]

i had my air maxes for not even a month and they started falling apart

[@michaelgundersen1809]

@@spongebobsquarepants2175 probly fake.

[@swiss1449]

@@spongebobsquarepants2175 They were fake

[@FF-545]

Diddy? Ice curling? Amazing!

[@leedza]

Actually this is a very misleading article. 1 Diddy is more than a brand ambassador he's partner and takes a cut of the profit. 2 Ace of Spades is made from conventional Champagne grapes and is highly ranked. 3 Ciroc is made from the Trebbiano grape but that's the is a standard cognac grape, the innovation is making vodka from it. Come on, don't down play their success

[@doralobo7853]

Exactly. That’s what I was thinking. You can’t make champagne out of trebbiano grapes. They are not allowed in the region.

[@joepublic6512]

Diddy had me fooled tho, I thought he actually own the company and product 100% he’s in a partnership and only gets a cut from the grape 🍇 section I believe

[@leedza]

@@joepublic6512 Its an expensive business to get in. some of these guys do partnerships which may include shares to use the hiphop platform to push product. Haven't looked into Diddy's deal Ciroc in a while.

[@jeremyepstein7977]

It's beyond misleading, it simply doesn't make sense. It's ridiculous that this guy can publish a book while saying things like this. Even a wee bit of research would tell you the correct information.

[@Theorigin11]

@Roger B he is worth that now

[@gld8rone309]

The majority of the spirits companies use so called “cheap grapes”. Why single out Jay Z and P. Daddy? I know the answer.

[@jameswin7631]

did the majority of the sprits companies had records breaking genius rappers working with them ?

[@QuanAcevedo]

Are the majority of the spirits companies famous artists who many know? Are they gonna bring in the views because of that? No.

[@ohnoyo]

Are they charging 300 dollars

[@ThisisFerrariKhan]

@@ohnoyo they’re charging more than 300, they’re charging 1000s per bottle and up.

[@GODOFLIQUOR]

@@ThisisFerrariKhanThey start at $300

[@algeriano01]

i'll be damned if I drink some Belvedere while Puff got Ciroc

[@edricksno9650]

All grapes are made equal

[@thinksmart4703]

Hmmmm! I didn't know that.

[@edricksno9650]

look at the ingredients on how wine made people made speculate on different kind of grapes are grown but grape made just the same...add process.... different kind of wine blend

[@viwembande9497]

AMEN.....

[@IM-iw7wd]

Eric Snow Lolol main main

[@BRBallin1]

SJW spotted

[@snickerbars4129]

When marketing wins the day over quality .

[@hottuna2006]

Their fans don't care. They can't tell the difference between the good stuff and bad, so why increase costs by making a good product and just make more money off of them by selling them cheap stuff expensively since they'll buy it anyway.

[@phutipooe8760]

We call things ‘cheap’ to downplay their value or importance. But what if the grape is actually nice despite its ‘market value’

[@damanwholaughslast]

Its an actual shit grape LOL

[@YouCanCallMeReTro]

Might be made from cheap grapes, but Ciroc still tastes a lot better than other vodka to me. Shit is very smooth for being made from cheap grapes.

[@A05_233]

YouCanCallMeReTro potatoes

[@SeaJayBelfast]

YouCanCallMeReTro it's all bullshit, vodka legally must be a totally flavourless alcohol diluted with water. All vodkas are virtually chemically identical

[@BH-pl7vg]

Yeah I agree, I find ciroc very smooth. Flavoured Smirnoff is also 35% and I notice a big difference personally.

[@ERROR204.]

YouCanCallMeReTro you have shitty taste in vodka

[@YouCanCallMeReTro]

GOBLEX That's just like, your opinion man

[@Perennestore010]

I just realized they have the same initials S.C.

[@mustafahajj]

Tot Morgen Wow, Aren't you the smart one.

[@Perennestore010]

mustafahajj I'm just not that invested in celebrities.

[@mustafahajj]

Tot Morgen Respect!!!

[@seanclements6206]

Wooooo me too

[@mariahyohannes]

They have the same name too in

[@Chenrandyliu]

It’s the power of branding and marketing

[@DaPeePeePooPooCheck]

That Ciroc advert with the curling was quality. Love it.

[@Jojohumf]

Great business men, two of the smartest business men.

[@hugoboss1285]

Cetus They are far from the smartest businessmen...

[@Jojohumf]

Hugo Boss I didn’t say they were but in terms of business men out there they’re so of the best. Smart and very calculated.

[@christianjames9667]

They literally went from poverty and flipped rap careers that made them low 8 figure salaries to moguls that are damn near billionaires. If they're not great business men then define what a great buisnessman is to me.

[@chome4]

True. African Americans don't have a lot of money but they seem to spend on 'stuff' that gives them apparent status. Same here in the UK! Not just an observation, but it's a fact that companies use.

[@CitsVariants]

Indeed. they just smart promoters and marketers, that all

[@BarzOverAll]

Lmao the other liq companies mad af at diddy & jay

Diddy + curling = mind blowing

[@malmcowy]

Great video, good insight!

[@chosenelite762]

This entire video was like a backhanded compliment

[@masonhaley9039]

1:00 funniest shit in the history of you tube and I honestly don't know why... carry on

[@phukka_feelings]

I think Ciroc is fantastic. its damn smooth and gives me no hangover, while everything else does

[@JoshMizrahi]

There no 'cheap grapes' only cheap terrior.

[@WealthbuilderzTV]

Great video. Two of my idols

[@MrAykut23]

This video made me love both of them more

[@DoughBoy45]

Aykut u made me realize how many dumbasses there really are

[@DoughBoy45]

Aykut y’all are like common pump shotguns

[@pete9105]

Not sure how, just a prime example of how marketing tricks people into buying cheap products like this, personally this video made me want to boycott them.

[@MrAykut23]

Pete Brand Ive never drank Ace of Spades, D'usse or Ciroq before. & im less likely to drink the last 2, perhaps youre the same. But i cant remember the last time i drank anyway, due to alcohol not being good for the liver or the weight

[@MOBROOKS]

Same. I love them so much more now.

[@heavyjr1]

I'm certain that there are plenty of alcohol companies that use the same grapes. Why are media outlets trying to discredit the business acumen of Sean Combs and Sean Carter?

[@hottuna2006]

They're not discrediting the businessmen, just the sheep that follow them blindly.

[@GS-go9qq]

People saying the video is an attack on them is interesting. I really didn't see it as that. If you can make millions using cheaper ingredients and good marketing, that's genius.

[@jval733]

Sonds like big brands are trying to marginalize there success lol jealous ones envy

[@gedinstructor1757]

jval733 their*

[@jval733]

GED Instructor yes thank you- also Sounds was misspelled lol

[@aboucard93]

Hey Zack I read your book “Empire State of Mind” a few years back it was great I literally finish it in 2 days. I could not put it down

[@jackblack7343]

and look at Hov sold his brand to lvmh less than a decade after this was made, iconic

[@animebrospodcast4577]

Sold half they own 50%

[@Master2594212]

Well, I could really use a drink now. Cheers!

[@victorespino5650]

E40 had his own beer, tequila, mix drink, & wine. Lol.. his own, not just promoting another company's ;)

[@alb8304]

Ace of spades is the same $50 champagne they sold before Jay changed its look. And Ciroc is basically wine.

[@DRACOFURY]

Handle your business gentlemen .... 👏👏👏👏👏

[@livunchange9716]

When any other person becomes super rich he is seen as a hard worker but when a black man does it, he then surely belongs to the illumaniti

[@ericlane6906]

What? I don't understand your argument here.

[@adityasinghaswal4923]

livun change Black Man where did that come from

[@Littlepeep192]

Eric Lane he’s saying other “blacks” are still in the slave mindset, that if they see other "black" that is free, that "freed black" had to do something like sell their soul (which doesn’t exist) to the devil(aka a magically hater) or join an secretive organization such as the “Illuminati” (which was disbanded centuries ago and wouldn’t allow blacks anyways)

[@top5videos162]

funny part is black people always talk about illuminati

[@qd9882]

noone in hollywood gets a pass not black asian white they all in the secret society

[@unclejonny5726]

This video is throwing shade lol Those grapes come from Champagne Vally in France. that's a legal requirement to label sparkling wine Champagne. they are not "Cheap grapes"

[@dclue9616]

1:00 lol I did not expect to see that

[@Jasongy827]

I hate vodka, but Ciroc is pretty decent then most vodka

[@4Noirr_]

😭😭😂😂lol diddy funny ASF for no reason

[@Dominikmj]

That is a pretty dumb commentary / video. First of all - it is misleading. While it has been not specifically mentioned, most people would think out of the video, that Armand de Brignac is also made out of “cheap” grapes. And nope - this is totally false. It is made out of chardonnay, pinot meunier and pinot noir - chardonnay and pinot noir definitely are not cheap. The point, that Armand de Brignac is made by Cartier champagne, which is rather a small player (and sells usually champagne at a cheaper price point) would be notable, but hasn’t been said. Second: Ugni blanc - it is said, that “the savvy businessmen / rapper” used a cheap grape to make vodka / cognac. In reality, ugni blanc is a grape which is classically predominantly used in cognac (about 95%) - it is one of the 3 allowed grapes for cognac. Does anyone think, that cognac is cheap? Exactly. Ciroc is a brand, which has been basically placed against Grey Goose. As Grey Goose has been made already in Cognac, it seems quite reasonable to believe, that the original Cîroc creator wanted to create a product, which is even more the epitome of “Frenchness” - so not only produced in the cognac region, but also made with the grapes there. And this decision has been made long time before Diageo hired Sean Combs to promote it. So: no, Correlation does not imply causation!

[@lordofthecameltoe65]

Dominik MJ tldr

[@mr12aT]

are you sure you even know what you are talking about bro?

[@Dominikmj]

If you want, you can check in Wikipedia (which is for sure not the best resource - but a much better resource than a youtube video).

[@AlJalandhari]

For those who can't be bothered to read/didn't understand Dominik's post. Ugni Blanc (also known as Trebbiano) wasn't chosen for its cheapness, it is an essential ingredient in Cognac and comes from the cognac region so Ciroc chose it to make their vodka seem more French. Ugni Blanc has high acidity so it's not good for wine and not used in Jay Z's wine but is perfectly acceptable for cognac or vodka

[@mboy6108]

So wich one is the best Grey goose or Ciroc ? Or it just for the brand name ?

[@BRBallin1]

I see nothing wrong here. They leveraged their fame and built their own brand and revived a struggling one

[@hottuna2006]

I agree. If there fans are happy being "swindled" and they can make money off of them, then no harm no foul.

[@testing6753]

Branding is everything. At the end, we buy the feeling, not the product.

[@EclipZeMuzik]

so glad i ran accross this video!!

[@lucienspann]

Awesome!

[@liveish2717]

This video totally blew my high

[@MOBROOKS]

I like both of these guys. They rock.

[@PostByJuice]

"Drinking Ace Of Spades like it's codeine now, trying put a million on the whole team now" - Jay Z

What on earth is the preposition "off of"?

[@mountainman6172]

Hiréka Éric It's part of the recent 'Make America Great Again' grammar revisionist

[@makisxatzimixas2372]

"Make off of", now that's a new phrasal verb there.

[@CheavorTV]

Big Up to Jay and Diddy, Smart Businessmen.

[@RizeRoG]

I love Armand De Brignac🍾🥂(gold bottle) & Cîroc 🍸.

[@23evulp8]

that red berry ciroc taste better than others vodkas I’ve had tho so 😙

[@pmaii7707]

It’s about having a great time it’s about the cheap grapes it’s the process that cost money... people have Been doing this centuries stop belittling a black mans work.

[@scoeon7]

Did anybody else notice the hand gestures when he start talking about those two or similar

[@kd2137]

What a powerful master lesson packed in less than 4 minutes! It's the new MBA!

[@jordanlee3609]

Still would/will buy both Ace of Spades or Ciroc, nice try with the video it didn't work...

[@Notachannel899]

Diddy curling...love it

[@naufrage0]

Ha! Sean and Shawn are winning and it has y'all shook.

[@cherylglover9119]

Down the rabbit hole

[@harburg007]

If the product would be bad it won’t sell well. And I didn’t think it’s about he production cost... it’s the same with the Apple iPhone. It could be much cheaper, but why should Apple do it. The production cost also don’t matter compared to the retail price. The video is kind of misleading.

[@aoaamp7173]

Habibi Vee well said👍

[@lov4570]

Just like Gucci and and Prada are probably using cheap fabrics. We consume mindlessly while the rich get richer

[@dazzaMusic]

Ciroc is actually nice it's not about about the flavour it's about the smoothness compared to other vodkas

[@ahprice1887]

Is trash.

[@justinmaloney7108]

Its brand recodnition.. and party scene and them being who they are. Mixes well.

[@yerawizardharry2632]

DUSSÉ AND CIROC THATS THAT DITTY BOP

[@miltonscott1322]

Diddy and jay z are the best mogul out here

[@daniel.ce.619]

Sell salt to a snail, its called a hustle!!! -Respect

[@chiomaigwe5158]

Favorite ✅

[@matt0mattic]

I think a grape sounds better than a potato buuuuuu ya know I’m not a businessperson or anything

[@ChiddyGamer]

I love how you didn't even talk about the actual quality of the vodka/wine in the bottle... :/

[@mikeshane2048]

Watched the entire even though I haven't tasted vodka or any alcohol for that matter.

[@jprincess5583]

How a bottle can make the grapes taste sweet AF

[@lwazibhengu1211]

but champagne is not a spirit...lol

[@kwenamedia]

It is bro

[@handl3_me]

Well done them👍🏾

[@mostmost1]

Thats every industry in the world almost.

[@sjoq9031]

You will never be able to satisfy your enemies no matter what you do.

[@cjack202003]

Fun fact. The Kirkland brand vodka at Costco or I think Sam's Club, is actually Grey Goose. On the bottom in small print...it says, "Grey Goose bottling company."

[@onthefence1492]

The same way everyone else does it...

[@niceblondegirl8776]

''I have a dream that one day grapes will not be judged by their cheapness but by the content of their juicy-ness''

[@rayjohnson8029]

Ciroc tastes better than most vodka by far...plus many delicious flavors to choose from.

[@OCmenacemafia]

Diddy at the most random places 1:02

[@dueceduece7835]

Why do they have to be cheap grapes?

[@rocktown2547]

Duece Poppi They have to find a way to denigrate their hustle

[@vincentcollins1017]

Duece Poppi they just hating

[@bati19]

Reduce costs

[@byjenniferdang]

Duece Poppi ã

[@Dominikmj]

The video is click bait and it is not accurate. Cognac is 95% made out of Ugni blanc. If you distill, the wine doesn’t necessarily need to be tasty - the end product (distillate) has to be. And Cîroc probably just wanted to be “French’ier” than Grey Goose - so they used the Cognac grape (Grey Goose is using wheat- but it is also distilled in the Charente = Cognac region).

[@mackenzietharpe9335]

The girl on the right at 2:47 🔥 lawd

[@ConnorShaneMusic]

I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man.

[@doriscombs1844]

and as far as documentary's we are going in history with the library if Congress

[@straightblast569]

The guy was in a sneaky way trying to put there product down his just jealous that two black men own very popular drinks

[@hurensohnbmwm3117]

No he’s not. Why do some people always have to feel frustrated? The reality is that the strain of Grapes they use is I fact basically the worst grape. Where I’m from (Between Italy and France) I wouldn’t even feed these grapes to my dog😂🤷‍♂️

[@hottuna2006]

I don't think the colour of their skin has any bearing on how shit their products are. Jesus could have made them and they'd still be crap.

[@yeyyo]

The illuminati sign at 02:00, we know bro, we know...

[@thabesttheris]

Giving me more ideas BI.

[@c.c8752]

Hating on there grapes 😂how petty

[@JGunit]

Makes me want to try Cristal to see what all the fuss is about

[@moses1142]

Cheap or not..... it’s all in the marketing and brand!!!!

[@The__Harvest]

Disrespectful characterization of these entrepreneurs

[@SankofaNYC]

The power of hiphop and its popularity... And also why you shouldn't insult customers just because you don't like who they are... For some odd reason 🙄🤔

[@L7pushman]

The Power of our Dollar

[@JakeHunter2010]

Be your own brand

[@1luv4j]

My favorite vodka for mixing.

[@dee9144]

1:00 😂😂😂

[@dazzaMusic]

Ciroc is a more filtered vodka if you compare to any russian vodka it has a better taste

[@matttorres5510]

Yo adding a title in the thumbnail is smart I clicked cus of it not the actual title

[@BIQ123]

I'm inn. Cable Long

[@samuelbrooks8199]

Sounds like a low key hater.

[@litacanaman4919]

We're can we have a free taste ?

[@Enyonam214]

Lita Canaman goody goody

[@seanclements6206]

We're what now?

[@pangingayondiyos4204]

east coast got the spirits west coast got the weed

[@shabazz7776]

Expensive grapes 🍇