Good morning internet friends! What a weird time to be alive. Between fashionable face masks and The Social Distancing Festival, I canāt help but feel like weāre the unfortunate main characters in a post-apocalyptic sit-com.
Has anyone picked up the rights for that yet?
If youāre returning from last week, thanks! If youāre new, nice to have you! Join the squad andĀ sign up here.Ā Like what you see? Awesome, make it official and click the littleĀ ā¤ļøĀ above to ālikeā my publication.
Nuggs š
Chicken nuggets are a generational sensation. I love them, you love them, almost everyone loves them - except people who are psychopaths or vegetarians (just kidding). But all of thatās about to change with the introduction of Nuggs.
Nuggs was founded by Ben Pasternak (whoās 19 years old) and some of his friends this past summer. A little about Pasternak: heās recognized as one of the youngest people to ever receive venture capital funding (at the age of 15), and turned down offers at Google and Facebook to start Nuggs.
Nuggs are completely plant-based and have twice as much protein as the animal-based equivalent. They also have around 20% fewer calories than normal nuggets. A box of 25 will set you back $24.99.
Bermies š
Although most tropical vacations have been put on hold at this point, you can still look the part with Bermies. Bermies was founded by Uki Deane in 2015 with the goal of producing stylish, stretchy boardshorts that were made from recycled water bottles.
The brand was featured on Shark Tank in 2018, where he (unfortunately š¢) failed to raise $200,000 for a 20% stake in the company. Since then, however, his brand has seen success and expanded to both womenās swimsuits and menās shirts.
PurpleĀ šļø
While Casper seems to be the only direct-to-consumer bed company in the headlines these days (and not in a good way), Purple has been quietly growing its market share.
Purple was founded by brothers Tony and Terry Pearce in 2015 and quickly climbed to a $1.1 billion valuation before merging with a publicly traded investment shell company in 2017.
Unlike Casper, Purple sells three mattresses made from a stretchy, lattice-like foam that more evenly distributes pressure than memory foam.
News Iām FollowingĀ š
š¤ Impossible Foods raises a whopping $500 million for expansion in retail and Asia. In total, the nine-year-old company has now raised $1.3 billion at a valuation of almost $4 billion.
The company also recently announced big-time partnerships with Disney (to serve in all its parks) and Burger King. On top of that, it expanded its product lineup with plant-based sausage pork enabling delicious vegetarian ideas such as these Impossible chorizo tamales. Yum!
š Restaurants are selling ādining bondsā, an investment opportunity for future dining. Dining bonds are just like government bonds: customers are offered a restaurant-issued bond at a discount rate (usually 25% or less) that can be redeemed after a set period of time (30 or 60 days).
A group of New York restaurants launched a coalition called SupportRestaurants.org to educate consumers on buying dining bonds. I think itās a great idea that could save some of our most loved restaurants from extinction.
š Online grocery is having a big moment. Nearly one-third of all grocery shoppers bought them online last week, according to a recent survey. Nearly half were first-time e-grocery shoppers - which could be the adoption push retailers like Walmart needed.
Walmart captured about 58% of those new e-grocery shoppers, with Amazon and Target trailing at 14% and 10%. While Walmartās e-commerce business is still unprofitable, this yearās jump could put them in the black.
šø Facebook pledges $100 million to help small businesses affected by COVID19. The money will be given in cash grants and ad credits for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses that need help from going under during the pandemic.
The company also added information to its Business Resource Hub website about managing business operations during the COVID-19 crisis. The website includes virtual training as well as best practices to help cope with the loss in business.
Brand Study: CheetosĀ š§
Maybe itās the fact that my munchies consumption has gone through the roof, but it really felt right to focus our brand study this week on one of the most recognizable snack brands in the world: Cheetos!
The story of Cheetos begins in 1932 with Charles Elmer Doolin. Doolinās parents owned a confectionary in San Antonio, which was where his love for creating and selling food was born.
That year his familyās confectionary was in the middle of a painful price war with another local confectionary, so he decided to diversify his familiesā product offering. He found an ad in the San Antonio Express for a corn chip recipe, which he proceeded to buy for $100. This recipe was the basis for Frito corn chips and launched the Frito brand.
Fast forward to 1948, and Doolinās chip experiment was a full-fledged business. He learned that the military had developed a preservative technique for dairy products during WWII, and realized he could add the powder to his products to make cheesy snacks. In 1948 he debuted his first cheese covered corn chip and named it Cheetos.
Since then the Frito Company merged with H.W. Lay & Company in 1961, which then merged with PepsiCo in 1965. The Cheetos brand also saw immense success: They're now produced in over 22 countries and come in over 50 flavors (including strawberry flavored in Japan and Japanese Steak flavored in China).
āIt takes over 5,000 cows to make a yearās worth of Cheetos,ā says Kimberly Scott - the Director of Communications at Frito Lay. āA year-long production run requires 11 million gallons of milk which makes 10 million pounds of cheddar cheeseā.
Chester the Cheetah wasnāt the original mascot - first on the scene was the Cheetos Mouse, who debuted in 1971. Chester didnāt show up until 1986, with the slogan āIt aināt easy beinā cheesyā. This was then replaced in 1996 with the ubiquitous āDangerously cheesy!ā.
Chester has his own video game called Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool that was released for the Sega Genesis in 1992. There was even a sequel released called Chester Cheetah: Wild Wild Quest.
Flaminā Hot Cheetos were the brainchild of 18-year-old Frito Lay custodian Richard MontaƱez in 1976. After a broken machine on the Cheetos assembly line made a batch of unflavored Cheetos, MontaƱez took some home and flavored them with chili powder - an idea he got from Elote and his Mexican upbringing. He then pitched the concept to the CEO over the phone who gave him 2 weeks to prepare a presentation for the executive suite. The rest is history.
So what has worked so well for Cheetos over the years?
Flavor Segmentation: Original Cheetos taste great, but so do Flaminā Hot Cheetos, Cheetos Puffs, Oven Baked Cheetos, White Cheddar Cheetos - you get the picture. Theyāve developed many different flavors that are each targeted to a specific consumer flavor profile.
The Brand is Highly Visible: Cheetos is a household name for a reason; theyāve been running print and TV ads for decades. That kind of spending coupled with a differentiated product builds epic brand awareness.
Chester the Cheetah: Chester is ingenious - he captures the heart of Cheetos target demographic (middle-class pre-teens) while still entertaining older generations with his sense of humor. One of the all-time great brand cartoons.
World-Class Distribution: Backed by the full force of PepsiCo, there a few places Cheetos canāt be found. The retail options for buying Cheetos are vast.
Jobs š¼
Allbirds - Operations Manager, Product Strategy Associate (SF)
Curology - Director of User Aquisition, Paid Search Lead (SF)
Casper - Affiliate & Partners Marketing Manager (NYC)
Peloton - Product Lifecycle Analyst, Business Analyst, Supply Chain Senior Manager (NYC)
Purple - Director of Product Management (UT)
Alleyoop - Digital Product Manager (LA)
Internships š
Playstation - MBA Global Product Marketing Internship (SF)
Macyās - Strategy MBA Internship (NYC)
Handshake (not consumer, but a cool opportunity) - Product Manager MBA Internship (SF)
Shareables š
šāāļø Big āgram on campus: At USC, students train to become influencers.
š Check out the new drip: Get your āZoom Universityā swag here.
š Invisible censorship: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by āUglyā people.
š How a ragtag gang of retirees pulled off the biggest jewel heist in British history.
šµļø The New Yorkerās guide on how to dress for the surveillance age.
šŖ The ubiquitous economics of bodegas: how convenience stores make their money.
š¹ļø How to make billions in e-sports: itās all about signing the best players.
š§ How to not completely hate the people youāre quarantined with.
šļø For those desperate to watch sports, introducing Marbula One: The worldās premier marble racing circuit.
ā ļø This weekās oldie but goodie:Ā Sequoia Capitalās infamous 2008 āRIP Good Times" presentation.
Hey! Iām Sean, a first-year MBA at the University of Michigan. Know of a new brand I should feature? Holla at me! Iād also love your feedback - feel free to shoot me a note at seansky@umich.edu.
And as always, if you like IntangibleĀ share it with your friendsĀ and click the littleĀ ā¤ļø.