Why All Brands Should Study Stanley Cup CEO Terence Reilly's Marketing Masterclass

Every so often, product marketing creates such a frenzy it becomes its own cultural moment - think Adidas Stan Smiths, Old Spice and Pokémon Go. The Stanley Cup phenomenon definitely fits the bill and is a masterclass in the power of well timed marketing and brand hype. This case study centers on one man, Terence Reilly, who was also responsible for turning Crocs into must have footwear. In this video, Forbes spoke with a number of product marketing experts to dissect what made the Stanley Cup a must have.

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[felixvelo]

The Stanley cup phenomenon should make us all pause and think, why am I such a mindless consumer.

[kxvxli]

He said “idiots are gonna be idiots” and I couldn’t agree more😂

[veragrig]

“People trust people more than any marketing communication.”

[shontelhorneonline]

Building a personality around a cup is an interesting life choice.

[evanniseventy]

I love the way he talks about the brand not being owned by the company, but the people that use it. Yes, it's a company's purpose to create a brand's identity, but it's the culture created by its followers which truly give a brand its power.

[DustinHaning]

I personally find it a bit silly but it really is a great case study.

[mikeracanelliart]

You missed literally the entire reason this took off: Utah moms @ the buy guide. They pitched the quencher in 2019 and anytime they would link it, they'd sell out. Then, Stanley stopped producing them in 2020, but they struck a deal with Stanley that they'd buy 5000 of them at a time if they'd produce extra –– and they sold them all. They started an affiliate system where fans could make money by pushing sales. Little fact: Utah is the state with the largest amount of MLMs in the country. The new CEO took notice of this and just pushed the snowball. Different colorways? Literally every company has done this. I don't know if "Women are buying these by the thousands, we should make more" is a masterclass in strategy. Hydroflask was huge in this space too, another water bottle, who introduced cool colorways. I don't know if there's a deep dive study here...and it's not scientifically reproduceable. It's a microtrend and there are so many factors that have to line up for it to happen. There's nothing to study here, and you should give credit where it's due: Utah moms.

[qyhniil]

We live in the "viral & trending" culture. And that's heaven for marketing.

[chanm]

Studying Stanley as a case for how to market a product is kinda counter-productive because they had no control over the car fire video that went viral. Stanley didn't do that. That was the algorithmic lottery. The most you can say is "the moral of the story is to monitor social media and _be ready_ to act if you ever happen to luck into some free momentum".

The other thing about social media marketing is that it's a sort of a "live by the sword, die by the sword" sort of deal. Social media hype cycles burst. What does Hydro Flask do with all its sticker-covered water bottles now that Stanleys are the new thing?

[high_maintenance]

Wait til John Deere starts making pretty pink lawn mowers and 🚜❣️ i’ll be right there wanting one

[pochftw]

Bruh is it me or was this video very light on real details. Like sure CEO made the most of the fire incident and they worked with influencers in some manner. I feel like there was very little info on how the campaigns were designed, ran, and maintained

[damham]

A CEO sits in a room once a week [ or month] with a bunch of very smart people the company pays to come up with ideas. They pitch their ideas to the CEO. The CEO ask their closest people what they think. Then the CEO picks one of the pitched ideas. If the idea is a success the CEO gets all the credit as if they came up with the idea and implemented all by themselves. If it fails, everyone else gets blamed.

[zag]

It's a status symbol now that they have pretty colors and have a cuter shape. There.

[withNazeli]

The case of Stanley is quite captivating. The storytelling about the cups and the aesthetic vibes it spread around on social media, particularly TikTok, affected me, and I wanted to purchase one for myself (I didn't eventually). The popularity of these cups is due to a marketing campaign that aims not just to present their product but to create a brand that will influence people to buy it despite high prices. Moreover, people really trust other people, and our era of influencers positively affected the sales of this product. Stanely is not just a cup for the bother but carries with it a whole new identity, such as the aesthetic girl who goes to the gym or office with her huge cup and keeps a healthy lifestyle. I remember back in 2014, we had a similar obsession with "My Bottle" bottles. These were just bottles with the label "My Bottle, " but having it meant that you were cool, and I think even water felt tastier in it)). Similarly, I believe that Stanely will go on to capture young people who wish to create specific images. Great review, by the way!!!

[charlesschenk]

The relatively smaller diameter of the bottom of the Stanley Cup lets it fit into the cup holder in automobiles. A large capacity cup by other manufacturers does not fit into the smaller diameter cup holders. This makes the Stanley Cup more useful.

[arfriedman]

Stanley had help from a mom blog that started the others buying their cups.

Then others started talking about how good the cups were.

If they didnt have the internet, this craze would not have grew that fast.

[trentino]

They failed to mention the driving force and influence of Ashlee LeSueur, Taylor Cannon, and Lindley Hutchinson — the founders and bloggers of an online market and product review website, The Buy Guide

[dedanaths]

Hey Forbes, I believe this strategy rised when the company sympathized with the lady whose car burnt up but the cup was still.
It kinda gives a feeling of belonging, Stanley doesn't feel like just a product but something that's got you backed.

Some family feeling. 🎉 Stanley

#africa #eastafrica #uganda

[htgwwwc]

In my opinion, covering different diverse colors on the stainless is the key of the brand's marketing... because people are possessive on some colors they like.

[ronf]

This is a phenomenon quite concentrated maybe even limited to US... Maybe a little in Canada..