How Stanley Turned A 110-Year-Old Water Bottle Into A $750 Million Business
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- čas přidán 22. 12. 2023
- Established in 1913, Stanley has been supplying drinkware to blue-collar workers and outdoor enthusiasts for over a century. However, in 2019, with the relaunch of their Quencher, they attracted a new audience, propelling the 110-year-old company to seemingly overnight success. Since 2019, driven by the Quencher's popularity, Stanley's annual sales have surged from $73 million to a projected $750 million in 2023.
Correction:
8:31 - Stanley has seen a growth of over 300% in sales between 2019 and 2023.
Producer: Lauren Shamo
Senior Managing Producer: Eric M. Clark
Camera: Dmytro Savchuk
Animator: Elham Ataeiazar, Gene Kim
Reporter: Nicolas Vega
Narrator: Ashton Jackson
Additional Footage: Getty Images, Newspapers.com, Stanley
Read more about Stanley here: bit.ly/4axp4H8
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How Stanley Turned A 110-Year-Old Water Bottle Into A $750 Million Business
It is amazing how Stanley was able to convince people that they needed a big heavy steel cup to carry around....
by people you mean women who need to get them in assorted colors...
everyone chooses not to see, out of fear, conformity, and laziness.
I haven't looked in 1.5 years but at the time it was one of the very few that came with a handle.
@fauxbro1983 well, men are much worse as a target audience, yes, they can pay more for higher quality, but, realistically need only one bottle, or 2-3 of different sizes, not more. And women will buy the same thing over and over, if it comes in different colors.
Stanley didn’t convince me, the bottle did. Stop being a hater.
It’s water bottle bro, I’m repeatedly blown away by certain consumers groups. Stanley has had the perfect storm. Their buyers believe it is more than a water bottle, it’s grown their own personal value. They are now accepted in the social group, apart of the Stanley cohort.
6:54 is a crazy example if you’ve seen the video. Young girl is beyond happy for a water bottle. That excitement is not strictly generated from the convenience the product provides 😅. At 9 years old, the theoretical status/personal value gained amongst the peer group is more important than the product itself.
Maybe people want something that can keep things hot and cold for a few hours.
Water bottles cannot do that.
It's a weird world out there, mate 😂😂😂
Designer clothes, fancy cars, expensive shoes...
Luxury and marketing has no boundaries 😂😂😂
Thats great marketing. You’re probably watching this video and typing a response from an apple iphone, ipad or macbook and you could say the exact same thing about apple
@@saulgoodman2018 An obsesive number in different colors? To match every outfit, I guess. The overconsumption is absurd. I was gifted an equally pricey Yeti a few years back, which I love, but one does the job fine. Use, rinse, repeat.
You forgot the very recent story in the news. The ladys car buried down in the US but her Stanley cup was still cold with lots of ice inside. Stanley then offered her a new car.
It was great on the company to help the lady out however she indirectly gave them the marketing campaign of a lifetime.
*burned
I was looking for this comment. That was the ultimate marketing; literally no amount of ads or affiliate marketing can ever replace user experience anecdotes like that, and they delivered a top tier reward for her.
That happened with a yeti.
Tbf, I really love Stanley products.
Hydro and yeti opened the doors. Stanley already being an OG in the insulated bottle game, they easily took advantage of the trends.
like BYD in EVs Car right?
They created the trend tbf
In the end Stanley can thank Mormon Moms lol
mormons fuel so much of the economy & the american psyche it's actually willld
There's no way people still need a new water bottle at this point. We've been buying insulated metal water bottles for like half a decade now. These things are literally indestructible. The thrift stores are FULL of them
Don't forget new people are being born or move here ever year. So more and more people to sell them too that had never had one.
@@christianterrill3503 no
There's no way MAN still need a new water bottle. But once you study WOMAN'S shopping dinamics you'll see why they keep selling the same product over and over to the same * people *
Agreed. I have more than I need, though they do serve their purpose for different situations. But people are literally collecting every color of the 40oz Quencher specifically, and that’s just unbelievable. I worked at a store last year that sold them, and they would sell out every time we got new ones. There were also constant phone calls for them.
Thrift stores?? Who buys a used water bottle? Yuck. I just got a 40oz simple modern tumbler because I wanted a huge tumbler with a straw. I’m 25 and I’ve never bought a tumbler before in my life and it’s one of the best thing I’ve purchased because the straw makes it so effortless to drink water, it’s easier for me to stay hydrated. Also the color is so pretty
Middle school kids are now using this as a social status at school now. Hopefully they hang on to them for years to come.
when was in middle school (2016-2019) it was hydro flasks 😂end of highschool and now in college, it's stanley cups
Yeti has dominated the parent squad at youth (TBall-high school) baseball games. 2 years ago it turned into Stanley cups and Bogg Bags. 🤭🤣
they won't.
That's a little sad. School kids don't need another thing to feel bad for not having.
My dad used to have a green Stanley metal container for decades he used it everyday on jobs. I never realised Stanley developed these others types and in different colours. It’s great to see they were smart enough to see and listen to market trends and reinvent the company but stay true to their existing clientele. Many companies fail to do this and see their market share deteriorate year after year until they just shut. Thankyou A very good video guys. 😊
Turtle Wax did this recently with their whole product line and have come out with some great products. The partnered with detailers and asked them what can we improve on and what is lacking in the market.
That ol' green bullet just doesn't want to break.
I still have the green thermos with a stained twist top. It’s so old it looks like a bad knock off.
czcams.com/video/yHOfAjXXpWg/video.html
I still have an original Stanley Thermos, probably 40 years old or more. Works great & still looks good!
$750M selling water bottles is insane
Girls got money 😂
50 bucks a pop. You only need to sell around 14 million and bam.
Gotta love fads.
@@GrandTourHTX only 14 million?
@@nixtoshi Yup!
People barley drink water, its so weird 😂😂.
From a travel standpoint: Swell has been extremely reliable for me. Twenty plus countries and has never failed me. I think the allure of Stanley is more “look at me with my $45 tumbler “ than anything else. Men purchased them for function; women purchased them for aesthetics. Some of those women had 5, 6, 10 tumblers totaling hundreds of dollars. They are a new accessory vs. practical function. It’s great to see an American company thrive; the overconsumption it cringey.
On point.
Swell also had its very aesthetic moment 10 years ago and I think social media just wasn’t the same back then. I can see very different applications to both, when I was a student/starting a career I used public transit a water bottle like swell was great. Now that I am a mother and drive to work, a spill proof cup that I can drink with one hand and fits in my car sounds amazing. Both are expensive, functional and beautiful products…. But WOW why does anyone need a dozen if anything that designed to be reusable!!
Exactly. Thank you . Well said.
and yet swell wishes it had the same traction.
Have you also noticed long fake nails on every single woman named "Stanley fan" in this video? 😅
Like I get the cup is of great quality, but why do you need like 10 of them? I hope they also come to protest for climate change 😅
Congrats on being in business for so long and connecting to a different generation. Very inspiring.
It’s actually pathetic. If people just bought one it would be okay, but they fist fight over every release. Small minds being easily influenced by the latest trend which will be bone in a year.
They didn’t connect with a different generation. They connected with women.
They made a quality, affordable, reliable product for a century. Thats how they were around for so long. They aren’t “connecting with a new generation,” now; they are gouging them with over-hyped, over-priced status marketing. It’s not connection, it’s extraction.
@@pickneyjoshua9295 Exactly! Just like Apple (as an example), they're over-hyped and over-priced. Someone having some of these products makes them feel important or wealthy (they aren't - quite the opposite). As you said " It’s not connection, it’s extraction."
The biggest issue I see with this is that the whole design of the bottle basically only works if you are driving with your car everywhere. Its just not a very practical bottle to carry in your backpack or hand all the time. And the design is very tailored to put it into a cup holder in your car. This inherently limits the sale of the bottles to car-centric cultures, e.g. North America, and I do not see them catching on in Europe or Asia due to these issues, even though water bottles (and drinking water) are also kind of trendy here at the moment.
I'm not a Stanley apologist by any means, but their "Iceflow Flip Straw Tumbler" is better. Especially if you are walking or standing a lot.
there's been a generational shift in drinking habits. instead of sugary soft drinks, the youth have pivoted to water, coffee and tea. it's not just a trend.
@@darwinwins much better imo, i barely drink lemonade now
The very goal of each one to replace a water bottle, but showing influencers having tons of them doesn’t look very “sustainable”
They stopped being a sustainable company a long time ago.
@@GrandTourHTXthey never were one
It's so heavy and clunky but looks so sleek and stylish. People are buying it for the aesthetic. It's that matte finish too.
It's heavy, because it is insulated. It keeps hot thing, hot for a long time. And keep cold things cold for a long time.
thank
you
@@saulgoodman2018
It looks hideous
@@saulgoodman2018yep. These bottles got me through hot florida when I would bike everywhere (no car). Used to put ice cold juice/water and it would still be cold all day. I even tested it to see how long it would last and my juice was still cold after 3 days. insane lol
@@saulgoodman2018 I feel like other brands get the job done just the same. My bottle looks nice but I feel like it's gonna give me carpal tunnel.
I bought a baby blue Stanley thermos twenty years ago. I loved their aesthetic and quality then, and I’m so glad to see them being appreciated now!
Nice to see a legacy company being successful. Sometimes it just takes thinking outside the box, or the right person getting interested in your product.
I got my first Stanley beer growler in 2017 and I love it still. The green is just classic, iconic, and I think their brand is so strong it’s why they can change up style and stay true to their quality and durability standards
Ladies you don’t need all the colors . One is enough ! 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️😂😂
But i need 1 more colour 😢
I hope stanley is being smart with the new market, theres always been "trends" with water bottles. Back in the early 00s Nalgenes were huge, now you never see them
My mother bought a Stanley for long outdoor rehearsals at community theater. Big two-liter guy. He went with me to college and toted hot tea on days when I wasn't sick enough to stay home. I've lost his cup, but he's still with me decades later. My wife just received a personalized quencher as a gift.
I'm delighted that good products are finding the right marketing. And that a manly man's brand is discovering that they can decuple their revenue by discovering an ignored market.
Ugh. Mommy bloggers, "influencers", and TikTok. That's enough to keep me away from this product, no matter how good it is.
I use Welch's Concord Jelly jar as my water bottle. It holds 1.5 cups of water so it reminds me to wash it on a regular basis to prevent bacteria an mold build up. If I'm going on a longer drive I use four of them for a total of six cups of water. The best thing about this is I can fill the jars up with boiled water and as the water cools down, it creates a vacuum seal thus keeping my water fresher for longer. I drink up one jar every hour. Every jar of water is fresh!
What I took away from this video is how easily influenced a certain type of person is controlled by social media advertisements. This product has been around for 100+ years and there's nothing special about it. Sprinkle in some social media influencer marketing then BAM!
SO
social media is a sickness
So is Coca Cola
I only heard about it this year because of the viral burning car. As someone who collect cups and only drink hot water I do want one. It is bulky though compared to all my other cups.
Love my Stanley! Thanks so much for featuring my video clip! ☺️
Women move product - what a novel idea!
Interesting story. Isn’t it an exclusive American phenomenon ? I always see these bottles on American CZcams. I have never seen it here in Germany. I looks as if this design is only useful to car drivers not for people that use public transport a lot (like Europeans). For it to be successful here it would need to leak proof so that you can put it in a back pack.
Do they have options like that?I also don’t need a straw (how do you clean that ??). But I am interested in the brand. Looks like they are very high quality. I will definitely check if they sell here. I would be interested if they have a good thermos coffee cup.
If americans talk about “concquer the world” they always mean just America haha. Dindt see the trend in belgium either
Perfect example of why diversity of thought is needed in organizations.
Expanding the diversity of decision makers is key .
People think inclusion and diversity just means checking a box, but no- it can literally drive a 300% sales increase !
i thought yall hated capitalism??🤣🤣
🙌🏻🙌🏻
DEI has nothing to do with diversity of thought. Ideological conformity is ruthlessly enforced and detractors are canceled on a whim. DEI wants communists of all races, but still communists only.
As a truck driver an someone who is outdoors a lot I have stanley everything from food thermos to drink thermos.. so when my sister said she wanted a stanley about a year ago I just figure i give her one of mine thermos… she looked at me like wtf is that “I want a quencher” lol .. the thermos are so much better but I can see the appeal with different colors
I still don't understand how a product that was basically hyped by moms became the "need" product for teens and preteens
I love old Stanley thermos and my Crocs! This guys brilliant
I still have the original green Stanley thermos my mom bought for me over 40 years ago. ❤
Sacramento, California USA 🇺🇸
This hype is beyond me... Especially since it seems like you can't just throw it in your back. I have the coffee tumbler (got it as a gift), which I really like as ik keeps my coffee hot for a long time. But spending almost $50,- on a fancy water bottle seems excessive to me.
Well.....having a Stanley thermos for over 40 years that still work and looks great, I got a Quincher. I have other water cups but none have handles. Being a baby boomer my hands fit the handle much better. Kudos Stanley!💖💖
After I saw the Stanley still standing after that girl car caught on car I wanted a Stanley.
I want one of those stanley metal cups now.
this video is native advertising
Stanley made the same comeback as Champion did.
All these stanley girls were hydroflask girls first. So quickly they tossed their hydroflasks to the side for stanley lmao. High schoolers buying it for social status.
“Influencer” 😂
Future biz school case studies
My wife got it at a company Xmas Party, as a white elephant gift. She passed it on to me. I'd been interested in it for a little while, but I could not justify the price point...
If you want a bottle that lasts, it’s perfect
Stanley is one of the few companies with an understandable price point. They don't cut corners and they make products to last. Loyalty was earned. I have a bottle of theirs that is legit bullet proof 😆.
I've known stanley for a long time. But man i hate what happened right now, most people just use it for fashion.
directly interviewing the man of the topic is a good one!
I was a brand ambassador when they first made this cup. I still use it out and people think it's due to the fad. I was there in the beginning with the original logo. They sent me a lot of gear to make videos with.
That’s freakin awesome ! I shared your comment with my Quencher obsessed wife and she would love autograph. Is that possible ?
I listened to them before it was cool.. Kinda vibe here
Not bragging... Just saying I never saw it getting popular at all. My content was outdoors and coolers at the time. Funny how a completely different market is what made them win! I am not one to be in on trends, so when someone brought up the popularity to me, I had no idea.
@@Todd_Kobell she DM'd me... Said she will be over later. She asked if I was going to film. Wanted to make sure you could see it 🫡. I will throw in a Stanley 16qt cooler for you as I still have some in my shed
@@Todd_Kobell😂😂😂stop it
I can't believe he is taking credit for a viral video .
Should just call it the Stanley suburban sippie cup
I have a 40oz Stanley coming in the mail for Christmas 🎉
This video is exactly what I was looking for, explains the why. Now I know.
Just got one of these for christmas, nice!
My wife has one. 😂. I’m more than happy with my yeti . Plus those things are huge!
Low key I've been eyeing this tumbler
The car wrecking video with the surviving stanley bottle went viral on Chinese media as well a few weeks ago, it was likely the first time people hearing about the brand, and now people just started to search it on the shopping websites. Chinese insulated water bottle market (middle to high-end) is dominated by Japanese brands like Thermos or Tiger, Yeti and hydroflask is not a thing among any generation.(Guess they did not enter the market officially) it would be interesting to see if Stanley is targeting the same audience in mainland China
My dad still has his thermos from the 80's! Awesome work Terence a fellow Rider University alum!!
Rider alum here too. Had no idea he went to Rider. That’s so great!
@@RKN81 what year did you graduate?
2003. How about you?
For a minute there, I got confused why a tool company would make water bottles
They've made them for the longest. Its just a different design they made that become popular
I never even considered the new Stanley's until I saw that girls whose Kia soul caught fire and the cup survived.
That’s some crazy accidental marketing
Their 20 oz coffee mug is the best purchase I have ever made. I take it to Starbucks every week.
Had one and it was awesome, the best part is when I finally broke it they sent me a new one free. They just wanted to see the damaged one. I had no such luck with a thermos one I had.
This is just like Crocs. A garden shoe that fashionable
1:05
It's crazy that 1913 is over 110 years ago
I think it's a pretty good cup but wtf why you need 20 of them?
I saw a little girl light up because she got one for Christmas. I got the old model and wasn’t aware of the new style. Kids freaking out over a cup; you got a winner.
Isnt the whole idea of the bottle that you can keep it forever and good for the enviroment (instead of buying 20 of them for now and replacing them with another trend in a couple of days/ years ? A good company doesnt grow so fast. The faster you grow the harder it gets to keep it consistent and keep your employees on.
I prefer hydro flask but I love how they have become so popular in the past few years
Agreed. I feel like I’m the only person without a Stanley lol.
I have a Stanley flip top water bottle and it's been through everything and still looks brand new. Their build quality is exceptional.
The quencher is likely the same kind of quality but the fact that multiple people are trying to hunt them down is ridiculous. At the same time, good for the company to be able to connect like that with the new generation and remain profitable for the next hundred years hopefully.
I always loved their flasks, since bought small Stanley 500mlish size coffee flasks. This thing I have zero idea where I'd use it but I want it. Yes I love Stanley and their quality.
Drinkware trend is move from Hydrio Flask to Stanley. I also bought 3 Stanley quenchers recently.
Well their marketing department when a Stanley was in a car on fire and still had ice jumped on that one in a heartbeat. I still have my old thermos from 95.
Love it! Anything to end single use plastic bottles.
Metal water bottles are also not breakable like glass and the water still tastes good 😊
@@amde8554 agree :)
definitely better but a lot of people are just pouring bottled water into these lol
$45 for a cup really
I bought two of the original Stanley thermos twenty years ago at Walmart for less than $20 dollars each. I bought them b/c my mother had one when I was growing up & I always thought it was cool(b/c it was my mother's & no other reason).
I use my Stanley thermos to this day(& gave one of my children the spare).
I got this as a xmas gift, never heard of them, but love the cup.
Whatever works! People need to stop using disposable water bottles. Even if you try to recycle them, they won't necessarily actually get recycled. The amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean is absurd. You don't have to get the trendiest water flask, as long as you get something, and use it consistently!
They're the OGs, so good for them. My sis got me one for my birthday but I hate to say I still prefer my Owala of a similar design.
I’ll never buy one. But I’m not mad the Stanley company at all..They won 🏆
"Stanley came up with everything I love" 😂 like really!?
So basically a random, expensive water bottle went viral. That's the entire story. It's a water bottle ffs.
I want one… I’m using a similar Miniso tumbler I picked up years ago that was huge, but fits in my car cup holder - it’s been great but can’t fit a straw and doesn’t have a handle. The handle would be helpful because the thermos is quite wide, slippery and hard to grip.
I live and grew up in seattle and had no idea stanley was based here
Lol I still use my under armour water bottle I had since high school so 25+ years? Still work great. No need to buy a new one
Funny enough the classic white Stanley was my first one I ever got in February of 2023 and as I’m watching this, itso happens to be the one I am using currently
Eu tenho meu lindo e exuberante copo Stanley na cor rosa claro. AMO
I started seeing this product at work and church, like when did this become a thing? lol
also, that TikTok video of a car caught on fire with a Stanley inside was remarkable marketing, by accident.
I don’t see what Stanley does that Yeti and other colored stainless steel bottles don’t. Maybe it’s the legacy of the brand in America?
I just bought my third Stanley today! I love how cold they keep my drinks. I have a 40oz and a 20oz. I got a hot travel mug today for my tea.
You're part of the problem.
Been rocking the same Klean Kanteen for over 10 years now. Ain't broke don't fix it.
I am 70 years old and live in the UK and not being on any kind of social media, I have never heard of Stanley and I do not see the point of these things, it's just a very expensive, heavy metal flask that I presume keeps drinks hot or cold, just like the Aladdin metal flask I bought about 25 years ago in the UK that I imagine weighs a lot less than these things and I still use.
It's vaccum 2L bottle and 1L bottle's plastic lid melts after a while and gets micro plastics in your drink. Bottle is fine but the lid is as poorly constructed as you can get
Leave it to the Gen Z' ers to reinvent and rebrand the old (into the new) without even knowing it. It's total peer pressure and IG worthyness. Can't wait to see what's next. Also it is a good cup! :)👍💯
They have the best french-press for coffee ever made.
Stay stay tuned in to your customers
I still have my Stanley black thermos from when they were actually made in the USA.
Hardly anybody wanted these until this year.
i still dont get the need for new water bottles.... Ive had my hydro flask and dont see the need of getting a new one unless I lose this one...
I love that this company went with the flow and adapted
Is a great story, but when it seems the main target buyers tends to be trend driven. It will die eventually. The core product lasted so long cos it works and mainly use by men/workers where it is not driven by trend as the product works. In a few yrs time, there will be a lot of these being thrown away as something will take over.
Marketing is a crazy business
I like the guys taking credit for something that was already happening lol
why does this video make me want to buy a stanley 🥴
Because you're very susceptible to marketing. Companies love folks like you.
Let’s be real, we saw an “influencer” use them.
I need Stanley master minds for my Evuro ecoleash hardware