Hard Fizz has been signed as the official alcoholic soda supplier for Adelaide’s LIV Golf event in April, and the team the behind alcoholic seltzer is putting the exclusive supplier deal down to an accidental PR stunt.
When Australian DJ and Hard Fizz Co-Founder Fisher was booked to play at the 2023 LIV Golf afterparty, he made news when he stormed the Watering Hole fairway and tried getting Cameron Smith to do a Hard Fizz ‘shoey’.
Although Smith politely declined and left Fisher to finish the shoey, the stunt made international headlines and became the catalyst for a commercial deal that opens the brand up to a global audience, and the international star is set to make a return at this year’s event.
Hard Fizz CEO Wade Tiller says: “I can assure you, it absolutely wasn’t planned, but I think without that shoey, I doubt there would’ve been a conversation with LIV Golf.
“The event particularly wants to partner with noise making disruptors – it doesn’t get much more disruptive than a lunatic DJ trying to drink a Fizz from a shoe with Cameron Smith. It lasted probably five seconds, but fair to say it was worth it.
“In all seriousness though, this is a major shot in the arm for our brand. The tender process of these events, and to lock down an exclusive supplier deal, is akin to hitting a hole in one – near impossible,” Tiller added.
“I couldn’t tell you what Fish has got in mind for this year’s tournament because truly there’s nothing premeditated about that bloke, he doesn’t think, he’s just a born entertainer.”
In a double barrel deal, Hard Fizz will also team up with Coles Liquor Group, the official retail partner of LIV Golf, rolling out three of its key SKUs through the Coles’ First Choice and Liquorland networks next month.
At the tournament 30,000 cans of Hard Fizz are expected to be sold, and with over 800 Coles Liquor Group stores around Australia, more than 500,000 cans of Hard Fizz will be hitting the shelves in the coming weeks.
The news follows a recent partnership announcement between Hard Fizz and BWS, in a ranging deal that sees the brand stocked at all 1,400 BWS stores, including 480 in the drink’s home state of Queensland. A new to market BWS exclusive flavour is also in the works.
“Hard Fizz is still an independent, that’s what makes this so remarkable,” added Tiller.
“This brand is built almost entirely on its social profile, it’s not just Fish who is involved, there’s his wife Chloe and fellow podcaster Ellidy Pullin, surfers Laura Enever and Nikki Van Dijk, TV chef Hayden Quinn is in there, plus AFL star Rory Sloane among many others.
“They’ve rewritten the book on how to launch and market a product. There’s millions of followers between them, that’s a huge customer base. The product is a market leader though, it sells because it’s good and there is demand for it.”