Yeti: A man-sized brand
Yeti: A man-sized beast with an appetite for adventure, danger and the raw frontier.
Yeti: A brand targeting rugged men who clamor for the out of doors, seeking solace in hunting, fishing, boating or chilling on the beach.
Yeti has made coolers and drink mugs an experience.
My experience with coolers is typically transactional. Our family plans a trip to the beach and cold drinks must be nearby to quench our thirst. Usually, I’ve cruised to HEB, the defacto standard for grocery shopping in Texas, and picked up a styrofoam cooler.
I don’t expect these coolers to last forever. One errant kick or an overzealous youngster and BAM – the cooler is kaput, done, finished.
A Yeti cooler, however, is durable, reliable and tough; it looks as if you could smash a sledgehammer into the side of the cooler and not make a dent.
Yeti didn’t invent the cooler, yet like Apple and Starbucks, they’ve brought luxury to a market that’s usually disposable, dissolvable, pedestrian.
What can we learn from Yeti’s seemingly unstoppable rise?
- Don’t just race to the bottom on price. Race to the top on quality — people will always pay for quality. Coolers are ‘vacation items’ and vacationers will pay a premium to maximize the enjoyment of their ‘down time.’
- Men buy coolers and men will identify with rugged, tough, strong and durable. Who has some power tools around here? Grrrrrr……Growl……
Dear Yeti: I recently took a long roadtrip and was floored by the number of pick up trucks sporting Yeti stickers on the bumper. How about a built-in Yeti cooler in a Ford F-150 tailgate? Or partner with Bass Pro Shops on some fishing gear or outdoor apparel? Now, there’s a brand extension.
Yeti is getting great at coolers and drink containers, and there’s a risk at losing focus by getting into other areas, yet it might make sense to test growing their man-sized outdoor brand into other like-minded categories.
Until next time,
Dan Naden
