Why This Stanley Tumbler Is My Roman Empire

As an entrepreneur, a marketing enthusiast and just someone who is a sucker for a good story… I can’t help but obsess over what I like to call “The Stanley Phenomenon”. And I don’t say this because I love the infamous Stanley Quencher H2.0 40oz Tumbler (wow that’s a mouth full)… I’m saying this because as I dug deeper into this brand’s story, I realized there are many Million Dollar Lessons that you can take away from their story, and use it to blow up your own brand.

And if you’re reading this, there is a good chance that you have seen my viral “Stanley Cup” post recently on one of the many social media sites.

Thousands of people were inspired by that post… but that post was only scratching the surface! It’s not every day that you get to watch a brand go from $73 Million to $750 Million in just a few years. So let’s dive in.

In this case study, you learn

• The history of the infamous Stanley Tumbler

• What made the Stanley brand grow from $73 Million to $750 Million

• How the Stanley Quencher H2.0 40oz Tumbler went viral

• Why kids are crying tears of joy after receiving one for Christmas

My goal for this case study is that you are able to walk away with understanding

• The power of pivoting

• The importance of listening to your audience

• How influencer marketing can change your life (when done correctly)

• Goodwill initiatives and it’s explosive impact

So let’s start at the beginning…

The history of the Stanley brand

The Stanley brand was founded in 1913 by William Stanley Jr. The original patented thermal was created for working class men who needed to keep their hot liquids warm all day at the job sites.

The Stanley brand had grown to be moderately successful. they launched several different products over the years with the purpose of catering to working and adventurous men who needed to keep their drinks hot or cold in the outdoors.

In 2016, the Stanley Quencher H2.0 40oz Tumbler was launched, but sales were so low that they decided to stop restocking it in 2019. That same year, they had hit $73 Million in sales.

But while Stanley was discontinuing this tumbler… something unexpected happened!

The Pivot

In 2019, a popular blog for women, The Buy Guide, posted about this tumblr because one of the cofounders, Ashlee LeSueur, had fell in love with it several years before. When the blog post was published, her audience of women went crazy over it. Ashlee and her cofounders had decided to purchase and resell them on their website… and it sold out immediately!

The product had gone viral! The Buy Guide Team had also sent the tumbler to a celebrity and influencer, Emily Maynard, which added to the virality.

If you have been a consumer of social media in the last 5-10 years, then you know the impact that influencer marketing has had on marketing for brands. The key takeaway here is the both The Buy Guide and Emily Maynard did not only have a large reach online, but they had built a strong community prior to ever mentioning the Stanley Tumbler.

I truly don’t believe that this cup would have blown up the way that it did, if they did not have such a strong, long lasting influence within their own community of women online.

Now what happened next really speaks to the power of TIMING!

As this new virality was happening, Stanley had just brought on a new global president, Terence Reilly, who is responsible for turning Crocs into a must-have shoe (I think I’ll do another story time about that iconic journey, too).

Terence Reilly, who has a strong marketing background, decided to take the leap of faith and go all in on this new audience of women. The executive team at Stanley was not too fond of this idea, as it was the compete opposite of what they have built their $73 Million dollar company on over the last century.

The Buy Guide and Stanley had partnered up to launch brand new colors that would appeal to their new audience.

Their first launch in 2020 sold out in a matter of days!

Stanley could have easily ignored the new attention, and stayed true to their roots. They decided to take a risk and respond to the feedback of the marketplace. This small pivot in target audience resulted in millions of dollars in revenue.

The Stanley Frenzy

When I say that the new tumbler style has been selling out immediately, that may be an understatement!

Since 2020, there has been a complete frenzy around the brand. A simple search on TikTok on Instagram will show you the millions of views on hundreds of videos about this cup.

This Stanley craze has now reached beyond the millennial and gen z woman. There are no kids and pre-teens who are adding the Stanley Quencher H2.0 40oz Tumbler o their birthday and Christmas lists.

More recently, there have been hundreds of people who will camp out outside of target, just to get in line to snag the new color launches. And I would bet money that this is not the type of “camping out” that the founder would’ve ever associated with his thermal brand.

This type of demand is something that most business owners could only dream of. SO let’s breakdown how this happened.

We all know that influencer marketing played a huge role in this, but there are a few other factors at play here as well.

The Stanley brand has implemented several tactics that are explained in the book "Contagious: Why Things Catch On" is a book by Jonah Berger. And they have done it VERY well.

Exclusivity

Stanley had created waitlists before each new color launch to estimate the interest and the demand. Instead of manufacturing the exact number of tumblers needed, they decided to only make a certain number of them available. By doing this, not everyone who wanted one, got one during the launches.

This is why you will find people lined up outside of a store in the middle of the night, just to be first in line to get it. Everyone now has FOMO (fear of missing out). They are thinking “If I don’t buy it right now, at this second, as soon as it launches, I may miss my chance to ever have it”. Those same people are typically willing to pay what ever price is necessary to get it, too.

Exclusivity and FOMO is an extremely powerful tool when building your brand

Practical Value

Despite the cute aesthetic of the new colorways, the Stanley Tumblr is not meant to be a fashion item. It has real life, practical value. The patented technology of keeping a drink hot or cold, for long periods of time, is something that is actually very useful in day to day life. This adds to the chances of people actually talking about the tumbler to their friends, family, coworkers, etc.

I mean think about the first time you used a fancy new kitchen appliance, or you discovered a new “life hack”… you probably wanted to tell every person you came across.

We as humans have a natural urge to share things with others that are helpful and valuable.

Social Currency

In today’s world, social currency is often considered to be just as valuable as the currency in our bank accounts. Social currency is the idea that people share things that make them look good or enhance their social status.

The Stanley tumbler is not a small tumbler and it has a very distinct look, so if you saw someone with one, it would be almost impossible to not notice it. And due to the exclusivity and the popularity of this product, carrying one around all day can increased your own perceived status and popularity level.

This plays a huge role in why you are seeing so many tween and pre teen girls crying tears of joy when they are gifted one by their parents. The simple purchase of this tumbler is an instant boost is social status on the playground.

Goodwill Initiatives

it’s hard to deny that the story of the Stanley brand is riddled with nothing but superb decision making and simply making the right moves at the right time. There is one move in particular that was the cherry on top.

And that move came about when a woman went viral on TikTok because her car caught on fire, but the only item left standing was a Stanley tumbler that still had ice in it after the fire.

@danimarielettering

Thirsty after you catch on fire? @Stanley 1913 is like no problem i gotchu #fyp #carfire #accident #stanleycup

Not only did this video result in MILLIONS (93 Million+ views to be exact), but Stanley responded with a TikTok video of their own stating they will buy her a new car.

@stanleybrand

#stitch with @Danielle Stanley has your back ❤️

This video resulted in an additional 50 Million+ in views. And this is not counting all of the hundreds of reposted videos and articles that added to this publicity.

If Stanley wanted to reach 150 Million+ people using paid ads, they would have to pay anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000. By purchasing a brand new car for this customer, they saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

They likely spent between $20,000 and $40,000 for that car. Yet the impact they were able to create for their brand is absolutely priceless.

Conclusion

A lot can be learned from the savvy decisions that the Stanley Brand has made over the last 4 years. Who would have ever thought that a discontinued tumbler would take this company to $750 million dollars in revenue in such a short amount of time.

The great news about this is that you do not have to be a 7 figure, 100+ year old brand to implement some of these same strategies in your own company.

So yes as a marketer and entrepreneur, this Stanley tumbler is my Roman Empire, and now you understand why.

Sources:

CNBC. "How a 40-ounce cup turned Stanley into a $750 million a year business." CNBC, 23 Dec. 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/23/how-a-40-ounce-cup-turned-stanley-into-a-750-million-a-year-business.html.

"The Story of the Cup." The Buy Guide, n.d., https://thebuyguide.com/home/the-story-of-the-cup/.