Kid Rock business logos will be showcased Friday at the Gold Cup trials.

Young guitarists and business students, behold these current branding lessons from a master. Kid Rock shows how lifestyle music marketing is done:

  • Tie into a high-profile event: Gold Cup hydroplane time trials and qualifying runs Friday, as well as free public viewing, are sponsored by two Kid Rock companies. Until he stepped up in early June, a cost squeeze had cut the yearly event to two weekend days. In addition to reinforcing hometown hero status, Kid gets to show off the branded wave runners at right. 
  • Make cool stuff for fans: Sure, every rocker has concert tour caps and T-shirts. Only Kid has American Badass Beer and Made in Detroit wearables and accessories, including a Kid Rock Collection and stuff plastered with his beer, so to speak .    
  • Host a four-day cruise: A 965-foot ship separates a king of the sea from small fish. At a splashy website and Facebook page, Kid promotes his fifth annual Chillin' the Most Cruise next March from Miami to Key West and the Bahamas. 

At their core, these off-stage ventures are Marketing 101 brand extensions of the type used by pop music stars who try TV shows ("The Osbournes"), theme parks (Dollywood) and restaurants (Margaritaville). Like those, Kid's sidelines are crafted to promote his image.

Badass brew, for instance, is pitched as "the perfect beer for cases on the pontoon or a keg on the porch."         

This beer hasn't just been built for this American badass, it has been built alongside this rock 'n' roll son of Detroit. This is Kid Rock's beer, and it casts the same kind of net that his music does: far, wide and all-out original.

The iconic Made in Detroit company, which dates back to 1991 (Kid Rock was 20 then), had gone bankrupt when he bought it in 2005 "before another Detroit legend could head to dust," as a mission statement puts it.   

An artist who stand for Detroit wouldn't stand by when another bit of his city was taken down.


Kid mingles with casino players on his March 2013 cruise.

Hey, there's no modesty in branding.

Bodacious boasting carries over to the annual Caribbean cruise, already sold out eight months in advance. It's a fan fantasy come to life aboard a floating party with casino, 13 bars and two pool deck performances by the host.

"Kid Rock will be rockin’ the boat from coast to coast with around-the-clock concerts from choice artists and DJs, parties, activities, contests and everything that makes this party Kid Rock’s party," says an online blurb.

It costs $940 to $1,965 to get on board, plus bar tabs and other add-ons (including soft drinks and bottled water). A video from the March 2013 outing is below.

Veterans of past sailings talk it up at the Facebook page. "I went the 1st two years," posts Nicki Kosiba of Capac, Mich. "It was out of this world amazing!!!"

And oh yes, Kid Rock also records albums and is on a Rebel Soul Tour through 27 cities that began June 15 and comes to DTE Energy Music Theater with eight shows from Aug. 9-20. 


"Best adult vacation ever," says a Tennessee fan identified only as Beth, shown on last spring's cruise.

|    Two pool deck shows are part of the March voyage.

Kid Rock's Chillin' the Most Cruise 2013 from Sixthman TV on Vimeo.