Travis and Jason blended their Top 3 together into Kelce Mix and, in May, filmed a “Cereal Training Camp” multi-part campaign pitting them against children in physical challenges for the right to place their dream cereal on shelves. General Mills set up worlds around each brand, and the brothers showed “equal enthusiasm and a lot of it,” which is of utmost importance to a company whose first rule for endorsers is that they actually have to like the cereal.

“We’re really lucky that we have a wealth of mascots, from Lucky the Leprechaun to Buzz the Bee to the Cinnamoji,” Murray said. “Because, honestly, you put the Kelce brothers and a bunch of cereal mascots together on a set, and you almost can just back away and say, ‘Do your thing.’”

To Murray, it was a marked change from the influencer marketing she saw earlier in her career when companies sought “the person with the biggest reach or the person that has the coolest Instagram feed.” As General Mills and other brands seek more intimate connections with their partners and consumers hold a low tolerance for hollow endorsements, Kelce and his team can judge each brand on increasingly personal merits.

With Lowe’s, for example, Kelce’s 87 & Running Foundation built a new learning space, Ignition Lab, in Kansas City to teach kids skills in coding, circuitry, culinary arts, construction and design, digital media, robotics, and visual art. In 2022, Lowe’s and Kelce renovated InterUrban Arthouse’s Overland Park events space. Last year, with help from the NFL, Lowe’s and Kelce helped the Kansas City Community Gardens build a new shed and install new fencing during Tomato Days. 

“He has never pivoted,” Lowe’s Wilson said. “In fact, he’s only asked us, ‘How can I do more with you?’”

Through the various facets of his public image, Kelce has created different ways for both brands and fans to approach him. That’s allowed Kelce and Eanes to treat Kelce’s work with the league, the Chiefs, his podcast, his entertainment gigs, his foundation in Kansas City, and his Kelce Jam music festival as different entities appealing to people who may never see him in another capacity.

“There’s a lot of ways that you can get a benefit by association, but when it actually comes to him really aligning with something, engaging with it, diving deep on it, and being a spokesperson or partner, it’s about how does this product, service, person, or thing fit in my life, do I believe in it, can I see myself adding value, and do we have the same overall objectives and goals so that we can impact whatever area we’re trying to impact together?” Eanes said.

“The benefit of having those different touch points is you don’t have to do a break to have a lot of exposure.”