Walking Billboards: The advertising strategy I fall for every time.
An Editorial Case Study on Stanley Cups from the Perspective of a Young Advertiser
By: Andy Ayup
In a world that’s constantly begging for our attention, we have become masters of ignorance. We pay no mind to the billboards screaming “Look at ME!”– we swipe past the “Great Deals NOW!” on social media, and quickly forget the advertisements we read on the sides of buses to pass the time at a red light. For some reason, even though we are constantly bombarded by messages with a call to action, our phone line seems to be disconnected. An article made by Red Crow Marketing shares the results collected from clinical tests. The findings show that we are exposed to a range from 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements on a daily basis. Yet, I can’t even recall two, off the top of my head, that I’ve seen today. Can you? Our society is constantly changing: trends are always going in and out of style, technology gets more and more complicated… but advertising strategies seem to remain the same. Or at least that’s what I thought.
If we are so accustomed to tuning out the different messages we face from ads every day, how do we know when we’ve been successfully influenced? What advertisements actually work on their target audience? I tried to think back on the last time an advertisement urged me to buy into a product or service. I couldn’t think of anything.
The Stanley.
I remember when everyone was investing into the Stanley, a reusable cup that was made to keep drinks at their desired temperature for long periods of time. Probably like the one already in your kitchen cupboard. Except for one major variable; the one in your kitchen cupboard isn’t a Stanley, and for some reason, if you didn’t have one, you had to go out and buy one. All of a sudden, purchasing a Stanley felt like being part of a sorority we were all desperate to pledge. People were no longer buying a reusable cup that kept their drinks cold, they were buying the status. They were in with the trends, and they knew what was cool. But what exactly caused this tidal wave of consumers, all buying into this product? When did we decide this cup was a token of someone’s social position? Where were the signs on the sides of buses, or the unskippable one-minute clips playing before a YouTube video?
Thought behind the tumbler.
According to CNBC, Stanley’s revenue jumped from $74 million in 2019 to $750 million in 2023– a spike that seemingly came out of nowhere. CNBC has attributed this jump to their use of exclusivity through their multiple “Limited Time Only” collaborations with other brands like Target, Starbucks, and even pop singer Olivia Rodrigo. The article also gives us a look inside the mind of one of (what I like to call) the “Stanley Sisters.” A girl who had been rushing to get her hands on as many of these cups as she could, and was proud to show them off. She claims Stanleys are more than just a product, they are part of her personality. And she’s not the only one who feels this way. It was reported that each limited edition color released by the brand sells out in minutes. If you weren’t quick enough to complete your online checkout in time, you’ll find the cups being resold on ebay for hundreds of dollars, on the same day as the tumbler’s release. Where is this level of excitement coming from? Where are we seeing the push to let us know to buy now while we could? Account executive, Megan Fredette shares her thoughts, saying “the brand’s accelerated growth can be largely credited to a group of online influencers and creators who saw the product’s potential.” No billboards, no YouTube ads, and no posters glued to the side of a bus. People were being told to buy this product on the accounts they willingly followed.
Stans for Stanley, everywhere.
Today, it is hard to leave the house and go a full day without seeing someone sporting one of these steel tumblers. Ask someone why they bought that cup in particular, priced well above the usual “off-brand” version of its kind, and you have set them off on a long speech detailing all of the great features and benefits the product has to offer.
You have just turned your co-worker into a salesman, and you’re listening to their pitch. If they don’t convince you right away, you’ll have ample opportunity to buy a cup, induced by the encouragement of your sister, best friend, or husband. Is this advertising in today’s world? Are we the walking billboards of the 21st century?
As I see it… we are walking billboards.
Maybe the general public has officially become today’s world-class advertising executives, telling us to buy this and buy that– and we, as consumers, actually do it. It’s as if advertisers have hired regular people, to sell the product for them, and they don’t even realize it. Testimonials seem to be much more powerful than the thousands of messages we are exposed to each day. It seems that the closer you are, or want to be, to the person endorsing the product, the more effective their testimonial. It’s hard to find a popular social media influencer that isn’t endorsing a brand. It can be even harder for an audience to know if an influencer really likes the product they are promoting, or rather the check they’ll deposit from the video they post. They need to trust the person recommending the product, or at least want to be just like them. If the influencers of a brand’s choosing can convince enough people to buy something, the consumers, in turn, somehow manage to take on the roles of their favorite online personalities, and suddenly feel the need to spread the word of the “amazing new product everyone should try!” Except, they’re doing this, for free. This video shows a sign on a Target display, telling people they can’t buy more than two Stanleys per guest. The cup is no longer a one-time purchase for yourself, but a hot commodity that needs to be taken advantage of and shared with the people in your lives. You see your peers buying into this trend and you want to participate. It all starts with a company paying someone to post about their cup, and it ends with someone else deciding that, yes, my sister’s new cup is super cute, and it’s the same kind my friend has. By then, they want that tumbler. They don’t want to buy it because they saw an ad for it, but because everyone who’s anyone to them has it. And it’s so cute. And they’re collaborating with their favorite artist. And it’s only going to be there for a limited time.
Somehow, the stressed-induced shopping spree seems to work for this company. And for those who don’t jump on board, for whatever the reason may be, they are destined to spend every day defending their decision. Whether you don’t like the cup, or the price, or the overly-excited attitude many suddenly share for the product, people who don’t buy a Stanley appear to have suddenly declared themselves against the movement. They have become the rebels, the protestors, telling us they don’t need the product, that they’re not interested in buying it. You ask yourself: Why isn’t this advertisement working on them? Don’t they want the cup too? Don’t they want the lifestyle attributed to the Stanley? If the enemy has really done a good job, we may even begin to question why we bought the product in the first place. Is this Stanley cup really worth it?
The cup may or may not be worth it, but for some reason, something you might never have considered buying before, has become something you need to get your hands on. Maybe you bought one in your favorite color. Maybe you camped outside Target. Perhaps you pushed through the crowds, and finally got one before it sold out. The cup may or may not be worth it, but the advertising behind it is priceless.
The Stanley cup is one example of a popular, fast-moving trend. I look around at my friends and family and find things I didn’t know I wanted until they introduced me to them. Everyday they’re selling a product, and I fall for it. They are the billboards my eyes are glued to, the ads I remember, and the one-minute clips I never skip.