Multinational chain Hard Rock teamed up with Lionsgate to offer immersive John Wick-themed pop-up experiences, events and F&B inspired by John Wick: Chapter 4 to mark the film’s release on 24 March.
Some Hard Rock hotels and casinos have been serving Continental Hotel-inspired F&B. Drinks on offer include ‘killer cocktails’ and Blanton’s bourbon over ice with a gold coin. Dishes include ‘Oysters Wick’, ‘Dry Aged Bone-in NY Strip’, and ‘Three Men, One Pencil Chicken Satay’. Hard Rock Cafes across North America, and some in Europe, will also be serving a ‘Wagyu-Yaga Burger’, and cocktails such as ‘Vengeance on the Rocks’ and ‘No Business-Espresso Martini’.
An immersive gamified experience was also available at the Hard Rock Hotel New York and Hard Rock Cafe on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles. Guests, according to the press release, had to “Use their street smarts and cunning tactics to help John Wick fight for his freedom.”
Immersive tests, including a ‘sake tasting roulette’, a tarot reading, and a hunt for hidden messages in Wick’s weaponry all added to the fun. At the select pet-friendly Hard Rock hotels, John Wick-themed swag was also on offer for both guests and their furry, four-legged companions as part of the ‘Unleashed: Canine Concierge’ programme.
“Hard Rock is incredibly excited to partner with Lionsgate on this highly anticipated film release as we continuously strive to elevate the entertainment offerings that are core to our brand’s DNA,” says Keith Sheldon, president of entertainment at Hard Rock International.
A lasting connection with the entertainment sector
Sheldon has been with Hard Rock for around three years.
“Prior to that, I was with the Brooklyn Nets organisation, running entertainment for Barclays Center, Nassau Coliseum and Webster Hall, along with some business development initiatives,” he tells blooloop. Some of the entertainment offerings he secured during that period included such iconic stars as Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, JAY-Z, Ed Sheeran, Madonna and Justin Bieber. Sheldon was also named to Billboard Magazine’s 40 Under 40 in 2016 and was a finalist for Pollstar’s Venue Executive of the Year in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
“Before that, I was with AEG Facilities, which is now ASM Global,” he continues. “I bounced around several different markets, including Louisville, Kentucky, Hartford, Connecticut, and also supported talent buying, booking, and event operations at a variety of different places within the AEG Facilities network. Prior to that, I had an event marketing promotions company, and in my past life, before that time, I practised law briefly.”
Sheldon graduated from Brooklyn Law School before interning with concert promoter AEG. This led to a lasting connection with the entertainment sector. His experience in venues along the East Coast made him the ideal candidate when Hard Rock International needed a president of entertainment.
Hard Rock’s LBE strategy
Outlining the strategy in terms of location-based entertainment, he says:
“Entertainment has been core to Hard Rock’s DNA right from its origins over 50 years ago in London.”
Hard Rock Café was founded in 1971 by Americans Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, who, despairing of finding a good American burger while living in London, solved the problem by opening their own American-style diner, Hard Rock Café, in an old Rolls Royce dealership, on which they were initially only given a 6-month lease. Leaning into an American post-war aesthetic, with red-and-white décor and an emphasis on burgers, fries and milkshakes, the café became the coolest of venues in what was, at that time, the coolest city in the world.
“It was a hub where musicians would hang out, tell stories, and just be themselves,” Sheldon comments. “Today, we’re doing the same thing, but on a much grander scale.”
Keeping the original Hard Rock DNA alive
It was in 1979 that the London café began hanging rock and roll memorabilia on its walls, with the other locations quickly following suit.
Rumour has it that at one point Eric Clapton, who visited the London venue regularly, donated one of his Fender guitars to be put on the wall near where he liked to sit, prompting Pete Townshend of The Who to do the same. Until April 2018, the corporate offices of Hard Rock Café International (USA), Inc., which was acquired by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 2007, were located in Orlando, Florida. Since then, they have been in Davie, Florida.
Today:
“What we try to do is give artists of all different walks of life, genre, and classification opportunities to perform, share their art, and introduce great music to all of our Hard Rock stages, whether that’s a Hard Rock cafe with a small stage, or all the way up to introducing performers into Hard Rock Stadium, with our partners over there.”
The original Hard Rock DNA is being kept alive.
“I would say that entertainment influences pretty much everything that we do, right from the memorabilia that sits on the walls of every one of our properties, and which tethers all of them together, to the performances that we have on a night in, night out basis, whether that’s a restaurant stage, as I said, or a major performance by an A-list headliner. It’s truly what differentiates our brand from most others.”
Hard Rock’s IP partnerships
Addressing how licensing and IP partnerships fit into the Hard Rock model, he explains:
“One of the things that we’ve been trying to accomplish is to ensure that Hard Rock is not only leading with an entertainment foot, but that we are also amplifying our cultural relevancy, and continuing to be culturally relevant all these years later. What we’ve looked to do, therefore, is not only continue tapping into music but also to tap into other walks of the entertainment space.”
Most recently, Hard Rock partnered with Lionsgate to offer immersive pop-up experiences, events and F&B inspired by John Wick: Chapter 4:
“This has been an opportunity to help launch the latest chapter of the John Wick series,” Sheldon says. “It has been a great success for us, doing a whole variety of different things that we believe will amplify the Hard Rock brand, drafting off great pop culture moments like this John Wick release.”
Marking the film’s release on 24 March, Hard Rock’s hotels, casinos and cafes featured unique experiences for fans of the film franchise. Some Hard Rock hotels and casinos served Continental Hotel-inspired F&B. Drinks on offer include ‘killer cocktails’ and Blanton’s bourbon over ice with a gold coin. As far as food is concerned, dishes include ‘Oysters Wick’, ‘Dry Aged Bone-in NY Strip’, and ‘Three Men, One Pencil Chicken Satay’.
Sportainment
“In other aspects, sports have become a key component, where there’s the intersection of music, sports, and entertainment,” says Sheldon. “We have partnered with world-renowned soccer star Lionel Messi on limited-time-only menu options, core retail items, and promotion of Hard Rock cafes and other Hard Rock initiatives.
“We partnered with Red Bull Racing; the Hard Rock logos are on the wheels of Red Bull racing vehicles, which has, obviously, been hugely positive for us, given their great success in world championships. When we look at these brands that are doing so much in the pop culture space, we as an entertainment brand, by playing in the same space with them, feel like there’s nice brand equity that gets created by collaborating with them.”
Hard Rock adapts to customer expectations
To an extent, this evolution has been driven by customer expectations. The gaming industry has led to people wanting to have more agency in their experiences, so they increasingly want to get closer to the brands that they love, feeling that they have a role in that story.
“We certainly want to curate experiences for our VIPs, our fans and guests alike that are once-in-a-lifetime moments, the type of money-can’t-buy experiences that you only get when you’re interacting with Hard Rock,” Sheldon says:
“I like to say that we play in the big event business. We like to go big with the events that we’re hosting, whether that’s partnering with BST in Hyde Park, which is arguably the biggest and longest music festival in Europe, or Formula One, which counts as a massive success on a global scale. Doing those things creates positive brand equity. It’s not just about brand awareness for us, it’s about defining brand perception for Hard Rock as we look forward to the next 50 years.”
The John Wick experiences
Diving a little deeper into the Lionsgate collaboration, he adds:
“A lot went into it. We hosted after-parties at both our New York Hotel and also at our Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles Cafe. Essentially, what our properties were doing was giving fans of Hard Rock a taste of the Continental Hotel Experience, which is the fictional hotel in the John Wick movies.
“Hard Rock Hotels and casinos had limited-time-only menu offerings including Japanese-American playful killer cocktails (including ‘Vengeance on The Rocks’ and the ‘No Business-Espresso Martini’), and a Wagyu burger, as well as different gamified experiences where you might find a gold coin in an ice cube of your bourbon cocktail. It plays off some of the key themes of the film.”
“In creating these experiences, it gives fans of both the films and Hard Rock alike more reasons to come to Hard Rock and experience something different and unique that, again, you’re not getting anywhere else.”
These experiences also give people new ways to connect with the Hard Rock brand:
“Our data shows that there is quite a bit of crossover in terms of audience for John Wick fans and fans of the Hard Rock brand,” he says. “But certainly we’re introducing new people to the John Wick franchise, and John Wick with its massive reach and international appeal is also introducing new fans of that franchise to Hard Rock. It really creates a win-win, and those are the best types of dynamic partnerships.”
What’s next for Hard Rock?
Regarding what’s next in the pipeline, he says:
“We continue to want to play in this big event space. I would say that Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida with our Hard Rock Live venue, which is about 6,500 seats, has truly become the underplay capital of the US where artists that are playing stadiums in other markets, and certainly arenas on a frequent basis in other markets, are choosing to play Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida.”
“We are using that opportunity to further put a flag in the ground that Hard Rock is open for business. We want the biggest and best acts, and we’re going to create incredible experiences for our fans.
“That type of philosophy has also helped us reinforce those same notions in other markets, whether that’s Sacramento or Northern Indiana or Atlantic City, creating, these tent pole moments throughout the course of the calendar where fans know that they’re going to get something at a Hard Rock that they’re not getting anywhere else.”
Building connections
At the other end of the spectrum, he adds:
“We are making sure that we’re connecting with the artist community early and often in their careers, making investments in artists just starting out, giving them opportunities to perform on the Hard Rock Cafe stages. So essentially, when we’re having conversations with a manager, an agent, or any type of content provider, we have a stage for every artist, no matter where they are in their career, and we’re trying to support artists early on in their careers, so we build some brand affinity with them as they grow.
“For the biggest artists in the world, we’re giving them an opportunity to create unique experiences for their own fans by engaging with Hard Rock and doing something that they’re not able to do anywhere else.”
It is, in short, a multi-level connection:
“Strategically speaking, we feel that’s our best way to, again, connect with our fans in a really meaningful way and build strong relationships with the artist community.”
