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STANLEY: MARKETING THEIR WAY TO TIKTOK FAME
How Stanley tumblers went from being boring old camping flasks to the hottest accessory on the market…
Niall Ratcliffe
March 05, 2023
Morning!
About a month ago my partner Facetimed me exploding with excitement about a package that had just arrived.
Buying random items on a whim is somewhat of a regular occurrence for her, but this time she was particularly more excited than usual.
The added excitement genuinely got me curious.
Anyway, the non-consensual very exciting haul began. She ripped the box open, tugged away the bubble wrap and pulled out…
A camping flask.
I was confused. Very confused. It looked like it was straight out of my 60-year-old dad’s backpack.
“How much did you pay for that?” I asked.
(Looking back this wasn’t a great follow-up question).
“$40” she answered.
I couldn't believe it, why in the world had she paid $40 for a camping flask? It made 0 sense to me.
Turns out this camping flask was the most in-demand accessory on the market.
- Viral all over TikTok
- Influencers flexing them
- Stock sold out everywhere
Yep, I’m talking about Stanley cups.
If you haven’t heard about this, you’re in for a treat.
Either way, here’s how Stanley cups went from being a boring old camping flask to the hottest accessory on the market…
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Breaking Down The Strategy
Stanley in 2020:
Stanley in 2023:
So, how in the world did Stanley go from boring old camping flasks to being the “IT” item, all in a couple of years?
(And the answer isn’t “They went viral on TikTok”)
It actually all started when they hired the man behind Crocs’ explosive growth - Terence Reilly.
Reilly had a track record of driving viral levels of demand and was a master at turning deadbeat brands into online sensations.
And that’s exactly what he did with Stanley with these 4 genius plays:
1) Looking in the mirror
One of the hardest things to do in business is look in the mirror and give your business an honest evaluation.
Unfortunately for Stanley (and Reilly), it wasn’t a pretty sight.
The brand was dying, it was only attractive to a hyper-niche audience and what they were doing right now just wasn’t working.
A tough thing for a 100-year-old brand to realise, but it gave them a good understanding of where they were at and what they needed to fix.
2) Expanding their target market
At this point, Stanley knew that they had to reinvent themselves. Targeting a hyper-niche audience was no longer working. They needed to go bigger.
So Reilly came up with the plan to start creating Stanley products aimed at a massive group of consumers that they had ignored for decades…
Women.
They began bringing out bottles with brighter colours
Added broader colour options across their range
And even added straws to their bottles (not sure why but women seem to love a good straw)
The NEW Stanley was born.
(But the game was far from won.)
3) Finding their true fans
After finding their new style, most brands would have gone down 1 of 2 routes:
Throw a bunch of money at big influencers
Run a bunch of paid ads for brand awareness
Both would’ve probably helped in this instance, but Reilly was a strong believer that huge demand for a product always needs to start organically with people who actually enjoy the product.
So instead, Stanley began “hyping up” and supporting people who were already talking about their products.
Someone wrote a blog saying they loved their Stanley cup → They’d write to them and thank them.
Someone posts a video online with their Stanley cup → They’d make sure to send them a message to thank them.
They found people who actually loved their products and made sure that they knew they appreciated them.
And you’ll never guess what this encouraged…
More people to post about them online!
Queue going TikTok viral.
4) Embracing a scarcity model
As the demand for Stanley products was skyrocketing, rather than pumping up production to fulfil orders Stanely took the complete opposite approach.
They opted for a scarcity model.
Limited edition drops
Limited edition colours
Limited edition collaborations
They made it so not everyone could get the Stanley cup they wanted and THAT is when they won.
I read an article that said at the peak of demand their popular Quencher bottle had 150,000 people on a waiting list to buy.
150,000 sat there waiting for them to re-stock a product.
Talk about viral demand, that number is absolutely crazy.
But it just goes to show how well they marketed it.
*BONUS POINT* They used DTC to push in-store presence
The last piece in the Stanley marketing puzzle was matching up their new online perception with their in-store perception.
Because whilst they were blowing up online, they were still getting brushed off by big retailers and placed at the bottom of shelves.
It didn’t look good for Stanley.
So, they took their online sales, social media and search demand data and showcased it to the retail stores.
The next minute, there were walls of Stanley cups in stores.
They were no longer collecting dust on the bottom shelf of the store. They were the “IT” bottle. Online and in-store.
BOOM the full transition was complete.
And if you’re wondering how successful this marketing strategy was, just take a look at the numbers:
Sales up 300% YOY
Grew to 500k followers across socials
Gained 2.3 billion views on TikTok
So yeah… turned out pretty well for them in the end, didn’t it.
Oh and for those of you wondering if my partner was happy with her $40 purchase…
She is very happy. In fact, she even convinced her mum to buy one too.
I’m not going to lie though, I’m so for this trend. I might even order one in honour of this article.
But what do you think? Are you for or against the Stanley cup trend?
Fire me a reply, I’m interested to know.
That’s all for now, until next time.
— Niall
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