How Cult Brands Capture Imaginations–and Wallets (Flashback)

Summary

Podcast Title: From the Ground Up
Episode: How Cult Brands Capture Imaginations–and Wallets (Flashback)
Release Date: June 30, 2025
Hosts: Diana Ransom & Christine Lagorio-Chafkin
Guest: Ali Donaldson, Inc. Staff Writer

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Introduction

In the June 30, 2025 episode of From the Ground Up, hosts Diana Ransom and Christine Lagorio-Chafkin delve into the fascinating world of cult brands and explore how companies like Stanley, Kendra Scott, and Bog Bags have captivated both the imaginations and wallets of consumers, particularly women. With insights from Inc. staff writer Ali Donaldson, the discussion uncovers the strategies behind these brands' meteoric rises and sustained popularity.

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Celebrating Entrepreneurship: Inc. 5000 Gala Highlights

Before diving into the main topic, Christine shares exciting news about the upcoming Inc. 5000 annual gala and conference in Palm Desert, California, scheduled for October 16-18, 2024. The event, dubbed "Entrepreneur Prom," will feature notable figures such as Ayesha Curry of Sweet July and Ryan Reynolds, celebrating successful entrepreneurs and the fastest-growing companies.

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The Rise of Cult Brands

Stanley: From Functional to Fashionable

Diana introduces Stanley as a prime example of a cult brand that has transcended its utilitarian roots to become a fashion statement. "Everybody's so concerned about if the Stanley spills," Diana remarks at [00:41], highlighting the brand's obsession among its fans. The conversation reveals how Stanley's redesigned products, now featuring a variety of colors and user-friendly features like straws and handles, have resonated with a broader audience beyond their traditional male base.

Ali Donaldson elaborates on Stanley's transformation:
"They realized they had a product that was extremely male skew and were leaving out half the population of women. So they made changes like a different color palette and added features that appealed to a wider demographic," ([07:54]).

Kendra Scott: Jewelry as a Lifestyle

Kendra Scott exemplifies how a brand can cultivate a devoted following through strategic collaborations and product diversification. Ali explains how Kendra Scott has expanded from colorful jewelry popular among college sororities to including higher-end pieces like engagement and wedding rings, ensuring the brand grows alongside its consumers ([26:21]).

Bog Bags: Function Meets Virality

Bog Bags, founded by Kim Vaccarella in Lodi, New Jersey, has experienced explosive growth, landing on the Inc. 5000 list and projecting over $100 million in revenue by the end of 2024. Ali describes Bog Bags as a "Crocs-inspired bag" made from durable EVA material, designed to be both stylish and functional ([16:08]). Their success stems from positioning the brand in high-end local boutiques and leveraging online virality through platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

“It's almost like an offline IRL virality that then people started posting about it online,” Ali notes ([17:57]).

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Marketing Strategies Behind the Success

Influencer Collaborations and Viral Marketing

Ali Donaldson highlights the importance of influencer collaborations in driving brand virality. Using Stanley's partnership with Olivia Rodrigo as an example, he explains how celebrity endorsements and limited-edition drops create buzz and a sense of scarcity. “This is that cup that sits in your car that's so big that you always have water in it and the ice stays for days or through fires,” Ali describes Stanley’s product features that fueled its viral appeal ([07:57]).

Scarcity and Limited Drops

A recurring theme is the strategic use of scarcity to enhance desirability. Drawing parallels with sneaker culture, Ali discusses how limited editions and frequent drops keep consumers engaged and eager to purchase before items sell out. “We're gonna have drops, we're gonna have limited edition versions of this shoe... it creates a sense of freshness and FOMO,” he explains ([11:06]).

Product Design and Market Fit

The alignment of product design with consumer preferences is crucial. For example, Bog Bags' square, hard-bottom design not only offers durability but also aesthetics that appeal to their target market. Ali emphasizes the importance of a “hero product” with strong market fit, which serves as the foundation for successful limited editions and collaborations ([24:04]).

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The Role of Terrence Riley in Brand Marketing

Terrence Riley, former Chief Marketing Officer at Crocs and current president of Hey Dude, plays a pivotal role in shaping the marketing strategies of cult brands. His "sneakerhead mentality" focuses on creating excitement through limited releases and collaborations, a strategy he successfully implemented at Crocs and is now applying to Hey Dude.

“It’s that sneaker head mentality of saying, we’re gonna have drops, we’re gonna have limited edition versions of this shoe,” Ali explains ([11:06]). This approach has proven effective in maintaining consumer interest and driving sales through continuous novelty and exclusivity.

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Consumer Behavior and Brand Identity

Despite economic challenges, consumers remain loyal to cult brands, often making substantial purchases even when finances are tight. Ali observes that “these brands become part of our identity,” suggesting that purchases are not just transactions but expressions of personal identity and belonging ([21:28]).

Kendra Scott’s strategy to foster intergenerational loyalty—where children and parents alike engage with the brand—ensures sustained growth and brand longevity. Ali notes, “They have this intergenerational approach where they want someone's daughter to come home and tell her mom... it will become this brand that stays with you forever,” highlighting the deep emotional connections consumers develop with the brand ([26:17]).

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Risks and Challenges

While collaboration and virality drive growth, they also pose risks of diluting brand identity. Ali warns, “there’s a risk you can really water down your brand if you slap it on any other partnership,” emphasizing the need for strategic alignment in collaborations to maintain brand integrity ([13:40]).

Diana counters by asserting that meaningful collaborations that align with the core audience can enhance rather than dilute the brand. Ali agrees, stating that understanding and targeting the right demographic is key to successful partnerships ([14:37]).

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Expansion and Future Directions

Brands like Bog Bags aim to expand beyond their initial stronghold in the Southeast by leveraging collaborations with established retailers like Dillard's and Bass Pro Shops. Ali mentions their efforts to increase national brand recognition and penetrate new markets: “They’re trying to reach an older skew through collaborations with Southern Living,” which targets a different demographic compared to their online presence ([29:03]).

Furthermore, Bog Bags is introducing innovative products like tabletop attachments, enhancing the functionality of their bags and opening new avenues for consumer engagement ([21:06]).

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Conclusion and Key Takeaways

The episode concludes with reflections on the delicate balance between maintaining brand identity and pursuing aggressive growth through collaborations and limited editions. The hosts and Ali underscore the importance of understanding consumer behavior, strategic marketing, and product design in cultivating and sustaining cult brands.

“These brands are so online and have really created this world around their brands, almost their own sense of vocabulary and universe,” Ali summarizes, emphasizing the multifaceted approach necessary for modern brand success ([27:19]).

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Notable Quotes

• Diana Ransom: “Everybody's so concerned about if the Stanley spills.” ([00:41])

• Ali Donaldson: “We're gonna have drops, we're gonna have limited edition versions of this shoe... it creates a sense of freshness and FOMO.” ([11:06])

• Ali Donaldson: “They realized they had a product that was extremely male skew and were leaving out half the population of women.” ([07:54])

• Ali Donaldson: “They have this intergenerational approach where they want someone's daughter to come home and tell her mom... it will become this brand that stays with you forever.” ([26:17])

• Ali Donaldson: “You have to resist that temptation to just slap your brand on any other partnership, thinking that it'll build your audience. Because at some point, you water it down.” ([14:37])

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Final Thoughts

This episode of From the Ground Up provides a comprehensive exploration of how certain brands achieve cult-like status through strategic marketing, product innovation, and deep understanding of their consumer base. By dissecting the success stories of Stanley, Kendra Scott, and Bog Bags, listeners gain valuable insights into the intricate dance between brand identity and consumer engagement that drives sustained business growth.

For more in-depth analysis, listeners are encouraged to read Ali Donaldson's feature on cult brands available at ink.com.

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Produced by Julia Shue and Avery Miles, edited by Blake Odom, with mix and sound design by Nicholas Torres. Executive Producer: Josh Christensen.

Transcript

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[Diana Ransom]

I'm Inc. Executive editor Diana Ransom and.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

I'm editor a large Christine Ligorio Chafkin.

[Diana Ransom]

This is from the Ground Up.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Today's how cult brands captured the imaginations and wallets of female consumers.

[Diana Ransom]

So this is a new format from us at from the Ground up, which we'll be doing about once a month where we talk to an Ink reporter about their latest feature. But first, Christine, what's going on in the world of Ink Media?

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah, we are getting ready to host our Inc. 5000 annual gala and conference in Palm Desert, California. It's in the middle of October, October 16th through 18th. It is sort of our annual celebration of some of the most respected entrepreneurs in the business and the founders of the fastest growing companies.

[Diana Ransom]

It's Entrepreneur Prom.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah, I mean, the gala is right. It's excellent. And I'm excited to be on stage. I believe I will be interviewing Ayesha Curry of Sweet July. And also on stage will be Ryan Reynolds. We've got dozens and dozens of excellent guests, but those are a couple highlights.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh, big names love it. I can't wait.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you wanna get tickets or register, we will include a link to that in our show notes today.

[Diana Ransom]

Awesome. Thanks, Christine. So now let's talk about some cult brands. So we have Stanley, Kendra, Scott, Bog Bags. They've all really skyrocketed in popularity. Bog Bags is a personal favorite. I had never heard of them. It was a company founded by a woman named Kim Vaccarella out of Lodi, New Jersey. Love Lodi. Landed on the Inc. 5000 this year and expects to book more than 100 million in revenue by the end of 2420. By the end of 2024. 24.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

This year. This very year.

[Diana Ransom]

This exact year. And you know the Stanley Stans are seriously engaged.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Oh, so have you seen some of these Stanley TikToks? People are so obsessed. And I kind of get why after.

[Diana Ransom]

Seeing them, I have not seen the Stanley Tiktoks. But that's only because I don't actually watch TikTok.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Okay, well, like on Instagram maybe.

[Diana Ransom]

Okay, there's this, I am aware of the Internet.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

There's this one video where they're pouring over a scene after a car fire because there's a Stanley mug in the car that has survived this explosion in the vehicle. And when they open up the Stanley, the beverage is still cold.

[Diana Ransom]

Everybody's so concerned about if the Stanley spills.

[Ali Donaldson]

But what about the melts.

[Diana Ransom]

Fire yesterday still has ice in it.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Oh, my.

[Diana Ransom]

No.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah, that's. Yeah, it's wild. Okay. So, Diana, if you're not on TikTok, like, are you a super fan of anything? Do you have any brands you're obsessed with personally?

[Diana Ransom]

So, no, I am actually not a fan of anything. Remember, we had this.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

I kind of knew this because I know that as journalists, we both have this kind of high level of skepticism toward things, and it prevents us from maybe, like, developing that kind of fandom.

[Diana Ransom]

Right. So you can empathize. You're actually not a fan yourself.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Absolutely. Like, sure, I buy things, like, I'll buy a pair of shoes, but I would never, like, say that I'm a huge fan of it.

[Diana Ransom]

You know, like, I'm not gonna walk around with the shirt of a brand.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Right, Right.

[Diana Ransom]

Unless that shirt is really soft. It's not the brand itself.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

At the same time, we love small companies, right? Like, we, like, love their stories. So this stuff is fascinating to us, even if we're not.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh, no, absolutely. Absolutely. I think the world is fascinating. So clearly I'm not the target market for these people. But, you know, at the same time, I appreciate who they' trying to reach. And I think it's fascinating to watch it, to watch the car fires and the. All that good stuff. So we get into all of that in our conversation with inc. Staff writer Ali Donaldson. So we talk about how people have become fanatics of these brands and how the brands have actually cultivated them into fanatics of their brands. We started out the conversation by talking about Stanley cups and how they've actually not always been trendy.

[Ali Donaldson]

I mean, it's an interesting story because if you think about water bottles, they've always been this sort of trendy item. I feel like I can measure my life by what was in vogue 20 years ago. It was the Nalgene. Then we had, you know, the Camelback. And then it was this. More stainless steel bottles. The hydro flask, the Swell. And so this is.

[Diana Ransom]

I still have a swell.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

J. Alfred Prufrock. I'm not a life measured in coffee spoons, but in water bottle.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yeah. And so when the St. Stanley Quencher became a thing, when it really went viral, which was around, like, 2022, and it's this giant insulated tumbler cup, 40 ounces, a straw. It has a side handle. It's kind of designed to sit in your car's cup holder. And when it first went viral, like, I kind of assumed, like, all of those other bottles that it would kind of lose that perch in that moment in the public consciousness, but it just kept sticking around. And so when I first wrote about them in 2023, last year, being a younger millennial, being pretty online, which I feel like is nature of being a journalist, I thought I was late to the story, but then after I wrote the story, it just wouldn't go away. I felt like every week, someone in the newsroom was sending me a headline about Stanley. I was reading about Stanley. Like, they have, like, an Olivia Rodrigo cup, and it's, like, trending on Twitter. They were causing more mayhem in Target stores. It just felt like this trend that wouldn't go away. And in that way, it was a different sort of viral. It wasn't a blip.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Spending $100 on a Stanley cup sounds insane now. Did I do that? Unfortunately, I did. But was I sober? I was not.

[Ali Donaldson]

I go back to escape. Come on.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's Olivia Rodrigo. These resellers really jack up that price. It was double the original one, but come on, if I didn't have it, that would just be crazy. I have not opened this. I've only seen pictures.

[Ali Donaldson]

I don't understand.

[Unnamed Speaker]

You're lying. You're lying. You're l. Well, Jeez, I'd pay 500 for this. This is now the most perfect Stanley that I own, and I don't regret buying this. It would honestly make no sense if I didn't own this, and I am very happy with my purchase.

[Ali Donaldson]

Oh, my gosh. I love it.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Olivia Rodrigo, I love you.

[Diana Ransom]

I'm sorry. I've used a Stanley water cup, and I don't really understand them. Your drink will spill if you put it in a bag, right? Which I think is actually a really important feature in a water bottle, that it won't spill.

[Ali Donaldson]

I will say they have some other water bottles that you can kind of close, like, a traditional water bottle and, like, hold in a more normal way, but they're just not that really popular quencher, which, yes, I agree. I don't understand why children want to take these to school. It's like.

[Diana Ransom]

Okay. Also, another thing. Not to. Sorry. Not to pick on Stanley too much, but, I mean, they're also gigantic. Like, how does anyone carry these things?

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Diana, this is a marker of your identity. It's not just a water bottle. This is what Ally's reporting has uncovered.

[Ali Donaldson]

I will say it is.

[Diana Ransom]

Not for me.

[Ali Donaldson]

I will say, to your point, not for you. I Do think it would be designed if your life was more suburban? It does fit perfectly in that cup holder in a car. And so I think if you were someone that drove to work and then had to go drive to pick up your kids from school, and we weren't in New York City and in Brooklyn, it would probably fit with your lifestyle much better. Because I think for a lot of people that are tiktoking about it, that's what it is. It's that cup that sits in your car that's so big that you always have water in it and the ice stays for days or through fires.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, right. Being able to maintain the temperature is pretty key.

[Ali Donaldson]

But I think what was so interesting with this too, to like Christine's point is there was a plan behind this. And this is a long time company. It's more than 100 years old. And for a long time it was known for these green thermoses, like fighter pilots carried them in World War II. It was kind of known as sort of an item that, you know, a guy would take to like a union job site to a construction site.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Boaters, right? Military. Yeah.

[Diana Ransom]

I visualize it exactly as what you're explaining. That's.

[Ali Donaldson]

I mean, it's funny, the company told me they actually were in a lot of period pieces which they were like realized this is not good. And so they had a full redesign, realizing that they had a product that was extremely male skew and we're leaving out half the population of women. And so they just made some few changes in terms of saying, okay, let's have a different color palette, let's have a lot of range of colors, let's have a straw, a handle, and these sort of simple designs. And then it caught fire online. A few, you know, influencers really liked it and talked about it on their own channels. And then it just really caught fire.

[Diana Ransom]

So speaking of the deliberate nature of it, did Stanley reach out to the influencers and then set it up that way or was it just sort of by happenstance?

[Ali Donaldson]

The first one was by happenstance. It was this group of mom bloggers in Utah that the Buy Guide is what they're called, and they just review products on their own. Think of it as like a wire cutter for Utah moms. Like they would do this and they just somehow one of them found this product and this was like all the way back in 2019 and really liked it. And they put it on their list of like why they liked this product. And so from there they just really tapped into that online culture. I Needed my nails to match my new Stanley. And I also had to turn my Stanley into a Utah mom as well. Time for photos.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

So I'm kind of going back to your prior reporting here. But like also around 2019, as you're mentioning, like another brand was gaining a lot of steam and that was Crocs. Right? This other ugly, like improvable hit that just is absolutely everywhere now. And there is a link between Crocs and Stanley Alley.

[Ali Donaldson]

And you're right, there is a connection. And it's Terrence Riley, who he had been at Crocs starting in 2013. He rose to become the chief marketing officer. So it was under him that this ugly shoe that for a lot of people had been for gardening and around the house sort of shoe. I remember kids, when I was at summer camp as a kid wore like canoeing or like at the lake, but it became cool and it became high fashion. It was at London Fashion Week. You know, celebrities were wearing this. So it was Terrence. It was a very similar marketing playbook that then in 2020, Stanley hired him as their president and he left and took this same playbook to Stanley, which is really something that he learned, as he told me when I spoke to him for this story, was a sneakerhead mentality. He had come up through the ranks at Foot Action, which I had never heard of, but I guess it's a defunct shoe.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, I remember it was in the mall Foot Action, wasn't it? Yeah, it was in the mall.

[Ali Donaldson]

It was eventually bought by Foot Locker.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Sounds like a fetish site.

[Ali Donaldson]

And it's that sneaker head mentality of saying, we're gonna have drops, we're gonna have limited edition versions of this shoe. We're gonna have a million colors of this same one product. And it creates a sense of freshness. But also that fomo, you don't wanna miss out because if you don't buy it, then you're not gonna have it. And as Terence told me, it also when you're an executive, when you're a CEO, an entrepreneur, it has a lot of good business reasons too, because it's much cheaper to do things that way. You're never gonna run the risk of over invent just a few thousand versions of something and then you create a false scarcity model where people can't get your product. And ironically, as Terence told me, that's the marketer's dream. When people cannot get your product and they are then posting online, I can't get this product.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

It's amazing. I mean, it's like false scarcity. But it is scarcity and they've manufactured that desire and that buzz then.

[Ali Donaldson]

And that's a good way to say, I would say probably manufactured. Scarcity is probably a better word than false.

[Diana Ransom]

So what is it? I mean, obviously the drop in the, you know, manufacturing of scarcity is a thing. But how did Stanley so successfully capture the female gaze? Like just by producing a water cup in different colors?

[Ali Donaldson]

I mean, a few design changes really did help that. And finding these organic fans online that were already using the product and then using them to talk about why they liked it. It was almost the classic listen to your customers. Like as he told me, it's like, find those fans. So as opposed to him saying, you know, I'm a 50 year old guy, here's why you should get this. Like, here are women that are using it online. And that was something he used at Crocs as well. And like he had told me this story when Crocs really became cool was because one of his young employees, her name was Toria Roth, at the time she was just out of college and she had been following Post Malone online. And at all of his concerts he would wear Crocs because he's on stage for hours and he talked about online that it's really comfortable. And so when you're jumping around on stage performing, that was his go to shoe. And so she flagged this to her boss, to the chief marketing officer and through them they were able to reach out to Post Malone and he did a full collaboration with him and that was the start of the full celebrity collab. So they had like Bad Bunny did one, like Justin Bieber did one. It became a thing.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah, that collab and drop strategy, right? Brands use that all over the place. I wanted to talk to you about that concept. Like it also is a little risky, right? I mean, is there a risk that the brands take every time and just watering down their identity?

[Ali Donaldson]

Oh, there's totally a risk. And this was something when I was talking with Kendra Scott CEO Tom Nolan about this.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Kendra Scott, the jewelry company?

[Ali Donaldson]

Yes, the jewelry company. It's based in Austin. I feel like it really took off like I knew about it first in college and it was kind of doing trunk shows at a lot of sororities. They always had these colors that matched colleges for game days. And they've done a lot of good collaborations.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

They've done a lot of Tiktoks for rush days. Yes, yes.

[Ali Donaldson]

And so they've done like Love Shack, Fancy with Target, but at the Same time, there's a reason behind those choices. They really align with the brand and who's already using their products. And that was what he was telling me is the risk is you can really water down your brand. He really told me, you know, other executives, other CEOs, entrepreneurs. You have to resist that temptation to just slap your brand on any other partnership, thinking that it'll build your audience. Because at some point, you water it down. And as you said, you see a lot of brands jump the shark.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah. I don't actually understand why it would water the brand down. If you're collaborating with somebody who speaks also to a core audience that your brand does, too, then how would that water down?

[Ali Donaldson]

I guess it wouldn't water down as long as it made sense. I guess his point was if you know your audience and it's like, mostly like, a female audience, maybe you're not gonna go have, like, men in Germany. You're gonna try to figure out, like, something that makes sense for your audience.

[Diana Ransom]

No offense to men in German.

[Ali Donaldson]

Germany. I was trying to find an oddly specific skew.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah.

[Ali Donaldson]

But that's perfect.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

I guess I see it as people, younger folks, especially today in America, at least, like, their identities are so tied with their consumer choices, they feel strongly about these kind of purchases. And should a brand veer too much into things that are not within their taste. Right. That. That creates kind of a dissonance there.

[Diana Ransom]

Well, I've also. I've heard this other kind of theory behind all of this, is that we don't have any kind of, like, unifying through line anymore. Like, we don't. We're not all listening to the top Billboard music. We're not even watching the same shows.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Monoculture is long gone.

[Diana Ransom]

Exactly. But we kind of do have this monoculture through these brands and almost through subcultures of monoculture.

[Ali Donaldson]

Because I feel like all of these brands that I did in this story about cult brands, which I really focused on. Stanley, the jewelry company, Kendra Scott and Bog Bag, which is.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

All right. I just.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, we have.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

I know, I know. I can't wait to talk about Bog. Yes, let's talk about Bog bags. Tell us what it is.

[Ali Donaldson]

The Cult of Bog. So it's funny, too. Terrence Reilly. Not involved with this company. But it's a Croc bag, as I.

[Diana Ransom]

But is it a Croc bag? Like, does Croc make it?

[Ali Donaldson]

No, I just joke. It's the same material. It's that EVA material, which is this polymer plastic type material. And so it looks a lot like a Croc it's plastic, it's perforated, and. But it's. No, it's the. The vision of a female founder outside in. In New Jersey who just wanted to make a better beach bag and was so sick of like, you know, kind of the crappy ones you would buy at like, wings in those discount stores that would just break before your vacation was over. Wanted to build something sturdier. And so this was the bog bag, which has had insane growth enough to land on the Inc. 5000 this past year.

[Diana Ransom]

Wow. Congratulations.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yeah.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

What struck me about this is, and maybe I'm reading just into your writing a little bit, but it struck me that this product seemed manufactured for virality from its very start, from its shape, from its colors, from its price point.

[Ali Donaldson]

I definitely think too, especially the colors, the price point and the placement. Because I think it was interesting because when this brand came around, it was really the height of the direct to consumer boom. But this company, BOG, chose to go wholesale. And still 70% of its business is wholesale. And it didn't start in big retailers. It started in these local boutiques, the kind of places you would see those stores they had Lily Pulitzer, Jack Rogers, high end brands. So from the very start, Kim was positioning this brand as a higher end product. Even though it is plastic, but it's there in the stores in these bright colors. Pink was the first one they did. They have a lot of neon greens. And so it'd be in these stores with these kind of Alice and Olivia cutesy, preppy looks.

[Diana Ransom]

So the virality nature of it is. Because it was so exclusive or the viral nature of it.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yeah, because I think when you go to these local boutiques somewhere, you go on vacation each summer or in like your hometown, people think, I'm finally gonna find this item that no one else has. It's not just at Zara and H and M and big stores. And it became that. So it was almost like an offline IRL virality that then people started posting about it online. And really they were able to track. The first time the company went viral was a peloton's mom group, which is posting. I mean, these bags are giant, which is sort of funny. Like the Stanley Quencher is humongous. These bags, they do come in different sizes.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

It's almost like this stuff has to take up a lot of space in your real life to take up space in your mind. Right.

[Ali Donaldson]

It's very existential. And so they do have different sizes, but their original one, which is 60% of their sales, is pretty Large. And so they would have these intricate videos of these women. And it's pretty much all women packing and unpacking them. And they would have dividers and smaller bags and containers and cup holders and cup holders with Stanley's.

[Unnamed Speaker]

These are my Amazon sports mom must haves. I absolutely love my washable dog bag and these cute charms. This waterproof picnic blanket with the carry strap is nice for lunch between games or letting little ones play. This tumbler is perfect for your morning coffee or hot beverages. And for those many hot afternoons, a Stanley Tumbler and Liquid IV so we can stay hydrated.

[Ali Donaldson]

It's all just part of this same universe online. And after these peloton moms did it, they saw it was teachers was another big one. Think of all the things especially a teacher has to lug to school that they would have all of their stuff. Nurses was another big category. And for some reason, I don't know what it says about us, people loved watching these videos of people perfectly packing little things nestled into this bag and then unpacking to show how much stuff they could pack.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Well, I mean, right? Our lives are chaos. Everyone wants a little sense of order.

[Diana Ransom]

When we come back, Ali takes us through the rise in popularity of bog bags. But first, a quick break.

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[Diana Ransom]

So when I was at the beach, I did see a bog bag. I can happily report. I also, in talking to Christine before the session, heard a really useful, I guess utility for the bog bag is putting your groceries in it. Sorry. That's like a game changer right there.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Right, right. Even if you're just schlopping around. But it fits. It's got a square bottom too.

[Ali Donaldson]

So it's just like square. It's a hard bottom. It's a hard bottom.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

It like sits in your car. Ali said they're like making tabletop founders on the record. I'm sorry, this is in the works.

[Ali Donaldson]

Kim told me the founder and CEO. So they're designing a tabletop. So next time you see the bog bag at the beach next summer, it's a top you can put on to put your sandwiches, your coffee, your drinks.

[Diana Ransom]

It's a tabletop for your bog bag.

[Ali Donaldson]

Oh yes. But people buy these things. I think this is why I described it as cult brand because it almost felt just so irrational of how much things people were buying.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. I mean like the economy, it's not great. Right now people are struggling to buy groceries and yet $90 bags are selling like hotcakes. Like we were talking earlier about like how these brands become part of our identity. But like what did your, did your reporting show anything there?

[Ali Donaldson]

Yeah, it did. Because if you think about it, so bog for their average customer has for their bag 4 to 5 accessories for their bag that they're buying through them. So accessories for their accessories.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Wait, I thought the bag was the accessory. Right? Accessories for accessories.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yeah. And so they have like similar to Crocs has those jibbets you can put in the holes.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh yeah, my kids are obsessed.

[Ali Donaldson]

Well get them a bag bag because they have these charms you could put in. They have tassels, they have cup holders, coolers that are inserted. So half the bag is a cooler, half is not. And so on average people have four of these and similar Kindra Scott, the company was telling me when a new consumer finds them and may find them through these outfit of the day videos that these young sorority women are posting, they're buying an average of four pieces of jewelry with their first purchase. And this is not like, yes, it's not Cartier, but it's not a cheap brand. You know, these are necklaces that are 65, 95, 100, even $300. They're doing a lot more in that fine demi, fine space. And so if you think about that checkout basket, if someone's ordering four to five pieces of that a few hundred dollars. And so that's what I thought was super interesting about the why now of this story was at the same time we're hearing from a lot of CEOs in the consumer discretionary space, all these bellwethers, the Starbucks, the dollar general, the McDonald's, saying that, you know, people are really strapped for cash. We have seen inflation come down from those 40 year highs we saw in 2021. But the prices have stayed high and people are fed up. They're fed up with that sticker shock. It's something economists have pointed out, the Federal Reserve has pointed out. So in that same environment, these fan bases for these cult brands, which are largely women, are buying big on expensive items and leading these companies to have double, triple digit growth.

[Diana Ransom]

So what about, what about other quote unquote cult brands like the yetis of the world. Are they experiencing the similar uptick?

[Ali Donaldson]

I don't know about that. With yeti, it was not part of the reporting, but I'm not sure. I mean, yeti's one of those ones that was part of the water bottle craze. But at the same time I feel like they have a sort of a different consumer base that's always going back to them which was more hunters, fishers, men, women, fisher people.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Maybe they need a female friendly redesign.

[Diana Ransom]

They might, that might be the key to recession proofing your business apparently because.

[Ali Donaldson]

They had those high end coolers which I guess are really designed for folks that are doing things outdoors where you had your, you know, your marlin fish you caught that you need to bring back to shore.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

You have to bear proof your fish obviously.

[Ali Donaldson]

And I don't know if it's still a thing, but it definitely was for a while. I knew, I feel like when I was in college it was a big ticket item people were asking for for Christmas. I always thought it was kind of why are you asking for a $500 cooler to just like put on your back porch? You're not doing anything that intense with this.

[Diana Ransom]

So I'd love to explore the idea of like, how does a brand who's listening today like or a business owner who runs a brand, how do they try to ad what we're hearing for.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Their own businesses who could master the art of the drop or the collab or like find that spark of virality?

[Ali Donaldson]

It feels like this shows that any consumer product can really do that. I think the first step is figuring out what your hero marquee product is because I think what this has shown with the collabs and the limited drops is even if you do a like color that people don't like or like a certain design or pattern, it still is a product that underlying is strong and it has product market fit. So you're going to probably sell through that even if people don't like that specific colorway. So I think it's having that hero product first, doing these limited edition versions that create that freshness, that fomo. And I think also too what Kendra Scott is doing right now, which is really interesting, is they're designing more products and expanding to really grow up with their consumer. They're expanding into more demi fine fine jewelry. They now have engagement rings, wedding rings, and as their CEO Tom was telling me, he was like, the idea is that, you know, maybe a young woman that discovered them in college with these sort of sorority colors, now she might Buy herself a nice present with her first job or her first bonus. She could get her engagement ring there, her wedding band, her push present. When she has kids, buy something for her kids. It'll become this brand that stays with you forever. And that's something too, because I think these leaders are very conscious of, yes, that they have had this cult status for a number of years and kept that virality alive, but they know that it can go away at any second.

[Diana Ransom]

What about kids, Kids jewelry? Are they in? Is there like a children's line?

[Ali Donaldson]

I don't know if there's like a children's sizing. I probably have to check online, but I guess you could do that.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Oh, my daughter had like a Kendra Scott thing when she was 7, I think.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh, really? So that seems like the natural progression.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Go right back to the youth.

[Ali Donaldson]

And what was interesting about that was, you know, their CEO tunnel and telling me that they have this intergenerational approach where they want someone's, you know, daughter to, like, come home and tell her mom, her grandmother, like, oh, this is cool brand. Or buy them a gift in reverse, wants, you know, Christine to go out and buy it for her daughter, who then, when she has her own money, could buy it herself. That it really works both ways. And I think that's what's interesting too, because these brands are so online and have really created this world around their brands, almost their own sense of vocabulary in universe. But at the same time, if you go on TikTok, if you go on Instagram, Reels, YouTube shorts, it's not just Gen Z, Gen Alpha, that there are plenty of people that are Gen X on there.

[Diana Ransom]

I mean, I'm sitting here, I'm listening to you. I think it's all so fascinating. But as soon as bog bags becomes everybody has it ubiquitous. Right? It loses the novelty, it loses the. I'm gonna go get this for Grandma. I'm gonna go. I'm. Grandma's gonna get this for me and I'm gonna go share this with some so and so.

[Ali Donaldson]

In Diana Ransom's America, everyone has a BOG back. They've hit saturation.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

I mean, I think the founders of BOG would love to hear this.

[Diana Ransom]

Well, think about it. Where does it end?

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Right? Right.

[Ali Donaldson]

I think one thing that's good to remember about these is back to this idea of there is no monoculture. These are very big in this sort of subculture that's mostly a female demographic. You know, it's funny that, like, the Gen Z, Gen Alpha have labeled this as preppy on TikTok. Which is not the preppy we may remember of like waspy prep school, East Coast, Ralph Lauren. It's this idea of more athleisure, bright colors, Lululemon. And so it's all part of this world online. But at the same time, that's a subculture. So I think that there are ways for these brands to expand outside of that. I mean, this is like something I feel like Kendra Scott, CEO was saying. Yes. Like, if you're from the east coast, if you're from the Southeast, do you think that how much can this brand grow? But he's like, if you go elsewhere in the country or internationally, he's like, we really only have 10%, like, brand recognition for the entire country. Most people don't know about them yet. And so they have to spread the word. And that's similar with Bog Bag. They really grew out of the Southeast and all these local boutiques. From there they went into larger wholesale partners, into Dillard's, if you're familiar.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, yeah, I know Dillard's.

[Ali Donaldson]

And from there in Bass Pro Shop. So it's very big in the Southeast. Trying to get more into the Northeast, where they're based in New Jersey and just trying to expand to the rest of the country.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

So they're not sell. They're not into the territory of selling out their hot target drops yet.

[Ali Donaldson]

Like, sadly.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Okay.

[Ali Donaldson]

I mean, a lot of their colors, if you go online, there are more than 50 colors. A lot of them are not available.

[Diana Ransom]

And also to answer my question, really is that they could do a collab with another organization or another company that like, caters to a different demographic entirely.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yeah. I mean, I think too, especially if you think about it, they had definitely have customers that have never, like, seen them on TikTok. Like in Dillard's, they have a collaboration with Southern Living, which is like something that like my mom got sent to our house when everyone still read print magazines, everyone get a print magazine subscribe at Inc. So I think about that demographic, it's probably very different. And they're probably trying to reach an older skew there than they are with their TikTok videos.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Interesting. We have to get post Malone on this bag collab.

[Ali Donaldson]

Ugh. I mean, what would he do? He has all this gear for concerts in there. Match the Croc.

[Diana Ransom]

And he could put his drink on top of the little table on top of the bag.

[Ali Donaldson]

We'll send him a message. He was at the VMAs with Taylor Swift.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh, nice. So what is Terrence doing now?

[Ali Donaldson]

So Terrence has a new job. He left Stanley earlier this year back in April, and is actually back at kroc. And he's now the president of hey dude. Which Crocs bought a number of years ago, so it's fully subsidiary of them. And if you're not familiar with this brand, I almost think of it as like a cross between a sneaker and. Do you remember, like, Clark's Wallabies? Was that a thing in your childhood?

[Diana Ransom]

No, it's like a boat shoe.

[Ali Donaldson]

It's more of a boot.

[Diana Ransom]

It's a boat boot. A boat boot.

[Ali Donaldson]

There's kind of a slip on. Comfy shoe. And it's kind of like Stanley is much more of a male skew. Like, that has typically been their.

[Diana Ransom]

What do you mean? Like.

[Ali Donaldson]

Like more men are wearing it and young men. I kind of feel like the people when I knew that had the brand. It's almost like the former fraternity boy who's in their 20s and maybe now they're going to the craft brewery on the weekend. So it's like not quite hipster. Like, it's not really a New York brand you'd see in Brooklyn, but, like, has been very big. I've seen in the Southeast, in Virginia, like, I know. Talking with two of our editorial assistant, Sydney. It's very big in Colorado as well.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

So boat shoes, are they going to be the next thing, the next.

[Ali Donaldson]

I don't know if I would call this a boat shoe.

[Diana Ransom]

It's not a boat shoe, but it sort of looks.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah, I'm looking at it. It's boat shoe esque.

[Ali Donaldson]

And so it's interesting that Terrance is back there and back at a company that I think a lot of people know, but a lot of people don't know and has this male audience traditionally. And now I'm very curious to see what he does with this brand. Is it going to explode? I have been messaging him. We're trying to get the interview. Terrance, if you're listening, we'd love to have you on the pod.

[Diana Ransom]

Please talk to us.

[Ali Donaldson]

And so you can already see some things that he's doing with this strategy to get the brand out there. They've signed Sydney Sweeney as a brand ambassador and did this whole ad with her and talking about the comfort and, like, her wearing it on set. And, you know, she's one of the most in demand actresses right now and has been in a number of movies this summer. It kind of feels like that same sort of viral nature that he's trying to tap into online and sort of Send the message to female consumers that this product is for you as well.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh, that's great. That's funny. So they're trying to do the crossover like you're traditionally male and now we've got Terrence and we want women.

[Ali Donaldson]

But at the same time, it's funny too. I saw they also have done a collaboration, so back to the collab model with Nickelodeon. So they're doing spongebob versions. So I guess that would be more for like, the kids. And then they also, interestingly enough, too, did something with Dave Portnoy of barstool fame for his pizza YouTube show. And so on its face, I feel like those are three kind of random things that I don't know how they go together. Then again, I'm quite bad at just dudes.

[Diana Ransom]

They want dudes.

[Ali Donaldson]

I mean, I'm quite bad at New York Times Connections games. So maybe there is an overlap that we don't see. Terrence will have to tell us.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

I don't know. I mean, I think the Sydney Sweeney thing might not be marketing to women.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh, no. It's a similar reaction.

[Ali Donaldson]

It's just dudes. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he's able to bring that magic to the brand and the virality. But one thing that is interesting about that brand is when Crocs bought, it was already profitable. Like, even though it was a brand that a lot of people may not have heard of, it was really chugging along in doing well. And the founders had basically put no money into it, no money in advertising. And it turned a profit and just kind of taken over in like the Midwest and other places, which, you know, I think.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Why do you say the Midwest like that?

[Ali Donaldson]

The magical Midwest. And it's interesting too, because I will say with Bog Bag too. Another thing that I thought was fascinating was Kim, their founder, was telling me they did not pay for advertising until earlier this year. Wow.

[Diana Ransom]

And that they made the Inc 5000.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yes.

[Diana Ransom]

That's cool.

[Ali Donaldson]

And this is their second time on the Inc 5000. Last. Last year, they made $53 million in revenue.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Wow. So they've had like at least four years of super fast growth.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yes. And they've kept going. I mean, this year they're on track. They said to hit more than 100 million by the end of the year. They've already sold more than 3 million of those bags in the first quarter alone.

[Diana Ransom]

They are topping the charts. This is what we are all paying attention to right now. This is amazing. Thank you so much for being on the program and telling us all about this wonderful story.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Yeah. Thank you, Ali, for tracking the hits of virality for us.

[Ali Donaldson]

Thank you for having me.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

That's all for this episode of from the Ground Up. If you want to read Ali's story on cult brands, you can find it.

[Diana Ransom]

On ink.com be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast platform of choice. Also, if you like this episode or have suggestions of what topics you'd like to hear about, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or reach out to us on Inc's social channels on LinkedIn X or Instagram or TikTok.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

From the ground up is produced by Julia Shue and Avery Miles, editing by Blake Odom, mix and sound design by Nicholas Torres. Our executive producer is Josh Christensen.

[Diana Ransom]

Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Olivia Rodrigo, I love you.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

We are so skeptical as journalists that we don't like anything.

[Diana Ransom]

We don't like anything.

[Ali Donaldson]

Yeah.

[Diana Ransom]

So that's our podcast. Not liking anything or not. Only fans.

[Christine Ligorio Chafkin]

Not only fans. Not ever. Not ever. Fans. Okay. We can edit.

[Diana Ransom]

We can delete that.

[Ali Donaldson]

Panoply.