• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 1, 2016

As more marketers expand their content-creation machines, Wrangler Jeans is belting out some winners. After launching the Wrangler Network back in 2013 and leveraging its rodeo and bull-riding connections, it has recently partnered with Universal Music Group Nashville to score even bigger numbers. 

The success of its recent live-stream concert with George Strait even took Wrangler execs by surprise: Strait, who has been associated with Wrangler since the early 1980s, performed from the legendary Gruene Hall, outside of San Antonio, Texas. (The venue was on Strait’s first album, Strait Country, back in 1981, and the concert was to support his latest, Strait Out of the Box Part 2.)

The concert attracted some 14 million media impressions, and more than 1 million Facebook Live video views from the King of Country’s Facebook page. 

“We’ve been connected to Strait since the days when he could only be heard on AM radio, so it’s exciting,” says Craig Errington, vice president of marketing for Wrangler. (For the record, his favorite Strait song is Amarillo By Morning.) “And creating content this accessible is what the Wrangler brand stands for.”

He says the company was eager to expand the network beyond rodeo and bull riding, and the UMGN deal, which kicked off with the Strait event, was an ideal segue. “This will bring music to our content, whether it’s high-level, star-studded music videos or up and comers.”

While Errington isn’t ready to announce the next series, he says the music connection is inherently interesting to the Wrangler audience. And as the content platform has gotten stronger, it’s even bringing in revenue to reinvest in additional content. 

“This has really been a win/win/win,” he tells Marketing Daily. “It’s a win for the Wrangler brand, a win for consumers, who can see more of our great content, and a win for advertisers. They’re seeing a way to get to the demographic they need through our network. Yeti Coolers is a big partner, for example, and we’ve got the MGM Grand, Resistol, and Pendleton Whisky. And as we’re monetizing it, the revenue from last year helped us finish off the deal with UMGN.”

And of course, there’s always rodeo, with the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo currently underway in Las Vegas. While it won't stream the actual sold-out performances, it is offering live events linked to them, including the Miss Rodeo America coronation, the official nightly pre show, and championship buckle presentations. “It also offers also live, real-time scoring,” he says, “so whether you’re in Texas or Montana, you can keep up with what’s happening.”

Wrangler, owned by VF Corp., says the network has an audience of 9 million viewers, with 1 million visiting each month, offering some 120 live-stream events each year, and more than 27,000 downloads of its app.

Separately, Wrangler announced that it is extending its licensing partnership with Strait for seven years for the signature Wrangler George Strait Cowboy Cut Collection, which is introducing a women’s line next year.