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Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice
The Power of Social Brand Experience & Collectibles: Superplastic Launches Dopeameme Institute
00:47:49
In this episode of Right About Now, host Ryan Alford sits down with Jennifer Van Dijk and Zach Sugarman of Superplastic, the groundbreaking media company celebrated for its character-driven content and iconic collectibles. Together, they explore the art of storytelling, the evolution of animation, and the future of retail. Jennifer sheds light on Superplastic's distinctive approach to creating compelling characters and fostering meaningful audience connections, while Zach shares insights into strategic areas like product development and forging impactful partnerships. This episode offers an in-depth look at how Superplastic masterfully balances business growth with nurturing an engaged fan community, unveiling the innovative strategies they use to captivate and connect with their audience.
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- [00:00]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Personally, I would love it if Toys was our smallest revenue channel because it would mean we've succeeded as a brand to be able to, you know, make the core collector happy with the best stuff, but also make a business out of the other revenue that we have in our platform.
- [00:17]
Ryan Alford
This is Right about now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over 1 million downloads a month, taking the BS out of business for over 6 years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping necks and cashing checks? Well, it starts right about now.
- [00:40]
Zach Sugarman
What's up guys? Welcome to Right about now. We're always getting right. We're always now. So what's happening? We got Jennifer Van Dyke, Zach Sugarman. We're from Super Plastic. It's a badass media company and we're going to talk about storytelling, the future, retail and just how. Hey, you're in for a surprise today. What's up guys?
- [01:02]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Here I welcome.
- [01:03]
Zach Sugarman
Hey, what's cooking?
- [01:07]
Jennifer Van Dyke
So much. So much is cooking. We are cooking with Crisco right now. Just launched a new location in Vegas. Yeah, it's cooking.
- [01:16]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, man, you guys got your hands in a lot. And anybody named Super Plastic gets my attention. No doubt. I gotta start there. Where'd the name come from?
- [01:29]
Jennifer Van Dyke
I wish we had a better story for it. It was really quite a random combination that our founder Paul Budnitz created. He was the founder of Kid Robot and when he was ready to start a new company, more character and IP driven, he wanted it to be super and somehow he landed on Super Plastic.
- [01:47]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah. And I guess you the obscurity sometimes with which names come from, you just never know. It's just. It just lands certain places. You guys get the name, what was it called? The something of Disney. The Demented Disney. Demented Disney. There we go. Yeah, I know. Like, yeah, I love it because we, we talked a little pre episode and we're going to talk about some names, different things like that. My head gets exactly where the space is sometimes where, you know, words are powerful. Demented Disney. Yes. What makes it Demented Disney? Ultimately.
- [02:24]
Jennifer Van Dyke
The reality is that we were born of TikTok and we were born of the Internet. Our two main characters, Janky and Gugimon are the ultimate schemers. Janky's sort of the lovable idiot. Kugimon is the semi lovable and always interested, you know, and. And it's a combination for the ages that really just locked in to the core of what gen Z on TikTok was wanted to See and wanted to be. And we have taken their storylines and their dynamics and grown their character galaxy in a way that has fuckery at the core. That's just who we are.
- [03:09]
Zach Sugarman
You used the analogy earlier, the modern day Tom and Jerry. And if you go, if you remember. I remember like watching Tom and Jerry, I mean, constant fucking with one another, like that's all it was, constant.
- [03:25]
Jennifer Van Dyke
And it's funny. And that's exactly what this is, you know, and no matter what the adventure is. And then they became playable skins in Fortnite and the, the audience really just took to it because they could actually now help create the.
- [03:41]
Zach Sugarman
Yes, I love it. The. I mean, animation. When I think back to the days of animation, in the days now, how's it changed? I mean, I know that I'm leading the Witness a little bit, but I just, I'm curious, you know, it's like a kid growing up and then all the stages though. I know it's changed, but I think for our audience. Be interesting to kind of hear just some of the evolution for sure.
- [04:11]
Jennifer Van Dyke
I mean, you know, back in the original days, the stuff we probably watched as kids, a lot of it was hand painted, hand drawn, et cetera. So fast forward through into kind of where we sit today. We actually sit at a really interesting moment where animation is undergoing an incredible evolution. The sort of last couple decades have been dominated by very high end professional tools, Maya and those types of things. And they create beautiful professional level or theatrical level animation that takes a lot of time and a lot of money. Then the emergence of the dominance of video game worlds and especially massive multiplayer worlds has started to push a new kind of animation from a different direction. And that's really based in platforms like Unreal Engine or Unity. Things where you can actually world build, not just sort of character sketch. Right. These things are colliding in a really interesting way. Frankly. We're sitting right at the middle of it because we produce a lot of content in Maya and equally have a whole pipeline built on Unreal Engine where we can use our characters in those things. It gives us a different level of flexibility because the reality is you're publishing content now across so many different types of platforms that sometimes you need a little bit of both the high end and, and the, you know, the sort of medium. But then we're sitting on this precipice of where it's going to go in AI that is, I think, really, really exciting as well.
- [05:48]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, I definitely want to get down that AI road.
- [05:51]
Paul Budnitz
But one thing to add on Real Quick Ryan on that. Like with the tech too, like into where Jennifer was going. Like once you make a rig, a 3D rig of an animated character, you can then apply it to all these different places. So when we're thinking about our IP, while this predominantly TikTok YouTube content, Instagram, we are making things in Unreal for a Fortnite game, we can apply that in other areas as well. So when people want to consume in different ways now with new animation technology, you got that core rig setup that then allows you and especially with AI to then capitalize on creating a lot more outputs more frequently and easier and nimbler without having to hand draw everything net new. So you really can kind of amortize an idea or spread out an idea or a piece of content across all these channels kind of once you get that core rig set up.
- [06:45]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, it's interesting because I think about, you know, I was going down the road of like the importing of the writing with, with animation and how smart the dialog has gotten and you know, the more in the talking animation shows. And then I was just thinking like Tom and Jerry, they didn't say a damn thing. It's storytelling, right?
- [07:08]
Paul Budnitz
What's their voice sound like?
- [07:10]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, and I'm like. Because I'm like, damn. It's the. The writing today is so clever on the best animations, including yours and like, and, and the story arc. And I mean when I talk about writing, I think of it, you know, being a creative guy. Like I think through the, you know, what you're seeing and the script combined with the dialogue and all those things. I mean, maybe talk about that from you guys perspective for how you bring stories to life.
- [07:37]
Jennifer Van Dyke
It's so true though, the layeredness of it all. I mean, our characters actually garnered 22 million social followers, never saying a word. And so they were Tom and Jerry in that way.
- [07:51]
Zach Sugarman
Right.
- [07:52]
Jennifer Van Dyke
And it was really in the development of our TV show with Amazon and in the development of our experiential that we've started to figure out, well, what do these guys sound like? And by the way, what would they say? And how does that add three more layers to it? And you know, there is something very precious too about the voice of a character that I think we have the flexibility to play with. So for example, you know, if you think Ren and Stimpy's voices, if you hear something that doesn't sound just like them, you feel, oh, that's authentic, I'm out. For us, we have a little bit of the flexibility to play with what these characters may sound like, you know, again, the sort of, are we messing with you or are we being serious? So we've been experimenting with a lot of different types of voice models and different things. And again, the ability to create these things cheaply and scalably AI is a natural solution for us in a lot of that, but it just opens up six more levels when you start adding voice. But you got to be funny, then you got to be extra funny.
- [09:02]
Zach Sugarman
Different threshold, isn't it? And it's so interesting because I think about a comment you just said, Jennifer, like, with the way it feels like stuff is scripted, the best stuff today, like with the way it draws the audience in is it's kind of like that wink in the nod, right? Like you're in on this. You know, we all know that we're rusing you a little bit, but you're in on it. Or, you know, or you're not. Right. It's kind of that interplay of letting you in. But are you really in? Isn't it something like that?
- [09:38]
Jennifer Van Dyke
We believe in that deeply in every platform. Right. I mean, we just published a TikTok post on for Thanksgiving that was one of our better performing posts of the whole year. And like, if you know who our characters are, it's edgy, funny, but you get it. If you have no idea who our characters are, you might be like, what did I just watch?
- [10:00]
Zach Sugarman
Right.
- [10:02]
Jennifer Van Dyke
So it is like, if you know, you know.
- [10:04]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, exactly. Zach being on the strategy end with the company, you know, what's, what's. What's your role?
- [10:15]
Paul Budnitz
Yeah. So really my role kind of, you know, on the strategy side of things is looking at all the ways, you know, our fans and consumers kind of interact with the brand and then strategically thinking, like, how can we serve them better? How can we do more of what's working? How can we bring in other partners that are missing to add a new element? How can we tweak things, you know, based on what we're seeing with our own fans, but also what's in the marketplace? And that kind of spans across the demented Disney analogy. So that's everything from our content and the channels to, like, product itself. So we're known for our vinyl art toy figures behind me. You know, what are other ones that are going to resonate? Are there different ways of selling them, you know, live selling on the floor, like a sports card collectible? Are there different partners from an individual artist or brand that are really going to excite our fans that we want to bring to the TABLE Are there different things that we haven't done before, such as creating our own Fortnite map game, which we did back in the summer based on the popularity of our character skins as some new way we can engage our fans with our IP and then from in real life, like with our experiential dopamine in Vegas. Again, what is going to keep fans happy? What's going to keep them coming back, talking about it with their friends? How can we take advantage of a physical space strategically, not just for people to interact, have fun with the experience by product, but it's a third space venue in Vegas where there are major events going on all the time. So, like, for example, like when F1 was there last weekend, you know, we did a deal with a brand partner that's a big sponsor of one of the F1 racing teams to just host, you know, 100 of their kind of VIPs at Area 15 and dopamine and have shut down the space, have them go through it themselves, get them a little swag bag and kind of entertain them there and give them that full white belt treatment. So it is across all of those, it's staying on the leading edge of kind of those trends. So I'm also the, the chief collector and the core nerd here who grew up collecting kid robot toys, sports cards, comics, everything since the 90s. So I'll participate a lot directly in our fans and discord. We got a live unboxing video with one of our influencers later in the week that I'll be doing too. So I'm trying to just be the voice of the customer or listen to them, but also look at all the data and the tea leaves and kind of see like what makes sense and the beauty about our company. And with Jennifer and with Paul and kind of how we've set it up is, you know, I mean, we literally talk about ourselves as a demented Disney. We say our style is fuckery, so we want to have fun. It's okay if it's not for everyone. We want to do strategically what makes the most sense for us as a company and for those who get it and those being kind of our fans and those consumers who.
- [12:57]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, I mean, I cater to your fans. Like, can't be all things to all people, you know, you really know the power of no. And it gets, it gets tricky. I'm sure Jennifer is CEO. Like, you're looking at numbers. Like there's probably temptations to get outside the box sometimes, you know, but it's like keeping that Narrow path. Right.
- [13:19]
Jennifer Van Dyke
It is. There's temptations all around that could really mess the business model. Right. And at the same time, investors and everybody else demand growth, and. And we want the IP to touch as many people as possible. So balancing those things, it is a really interesting. But like any audience today, no matter how big it is, it's really composed of segments of smaller audiences. And ours is a perfect plate in that sense, in that our big audience is actually composed of subgroups of people that are really into gaming, into art, into fashion and music, different parts of pop culture, not every part of pop culture, but certain segments. Adult comedy and anime fans, even. And that also, when you look at it as a grouping of smaller segmented audiences that have this beautiful Venn diagram of overlap, then you start to add in geography, gender, age. At the core of it is a Gen Z or young millennial consumer that if you watch our content is equally split. Gender, male, female. If you buy our toys, you're probably more likely male, slightly, you know, slightly on the older side of Gen Z. But really, what we try to do and what Zach does so brilliantly is help identify who we're speaking to with what angle, because our company can also, at the same time, be so many things.
- [14:49]
Zach Sugarman
Smart.
- [14:51]
Paul Budnitz
First word.
- [14:54]
Zach Sugarman
I get it. I'm eating it. I'm eating it for lunch, dinner, everything. As a. As a marketer, as a brand guy, it's really smart. Talk to me about bringing personifying animated characters in a way. You know, like, you've got social media, you've got all these things. I hope that makes sense. But, like, you have to sort of make them real, and they are real in their own way. But is that a challenge? Is it fun? Is it all the above?
- [15:24]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Yes. Yes. You know what's so interesting is if you think about what's happening in the world today, there are avatars that all of us play in games or on social media or things like that. There's characters that we all love from different parts of our lives. We've talked about a few today. This idea of a character is really strong in our culture and in our world today, but in so many ways, a lot of them are thin as a cracker in that, you know, like, sure, there's a ton of characters, but what do you really feel? What are you really a fan of and what makes that difference? And that's something we spend a lot of time thinking about, which is like, okay, Janky and Gugyemon and their galaxy of characters, Daisy and the Little Helpers and everything else. People know them. We've achieved that mission, but now the mission is to get people to really know and love them. And that tracks in a couple ways for us. Like, kind of any good plot, right. You're either ever always developing character or advancing narrative. We've developed character with this group, and now we're going to advance narrative. And that's why things like Dopamine Institute for Pleasure Research are so fun, because you're physically part of a scheme, you're part of an adventure to develop narrative with our characters. Meanwhile, we're back in the factory developing new characters too. You know, that. That will eventually be ready with audiences to go out for more adventures, but we kind of think of it that way.
- [16:58]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah.
- [16:59]
Jennifer Van Dyke
How do you really become a fan of something? I mean, Zach and I both spent so much time in the sports business. We love fandom, and we just apply it here.
- [17:07]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah. And you're doing a good job with it. Like, just reading what. What struck me in. I mean, this was my natur face. Like, but researching you guys for this and looking at it, what struck me is the loyalty of the audience, you know, like the. The. The core audience and how loyal they are and how vested, you know, people are in this world and in these characters and in the art and all that stuff. Because the collectible, the interplay of the animation with the physical art with collectibles and all that, there's a ton of, like, synergy with. With those two things. And that mindset is really brilliant. I talk to me about, like, what those art releases are like and what that world, you know, entails.
- [18:01]
Paul Budnitz
Yeah. So art releases, so, you know, they. They can vary, of course, with everything that we got going on, but in general, right. Like, we want to create this hype moment. We want to create a sense of urgency where people are excited and know what's coming. And then ideally, we're selling out pretty quickly after the drop. Right. So it starts with kind of teasing what's coming up? You know, can we play off of some previous references, you know, that the artist is known for? Maybe we've already collaborated with them. We do have our own kind of super fam. Kind of our own loyalty group. And so we do give them early access to what that drop is going to be. You know, it's part of them being so ingrained kind of with our brand and being loyal to it. And then how can we show off the story in the lore, like, behind the drop itself, like, what went into it, and how can we create a larger conversation around it? With maybe kind of, you know, partners or fans of that artist itself. And. And they do range. So, like, we had an amazing drop over the summer with an artist who's not known as like a big time art artist, but he's huge in the tatt for professional athletes by a name of Genga is based out of Los Angeles and he literally does all the tattoos for LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Carlos Alcaraz, the entire Brazilian soccer national team. And so we did this awesome toy drop and there's three versions based off of one of his iconic characters. And we had a super, super limited run. Then we had a mid tier and then we had a larger one. We kind of staged the drops to create excitement. Right. People that missed out on the first super limited one had a chance for the other ones. But what we did with Gang and what he did a great job of was we seeded these two. LeBron to Anthony Davis to Carlos Alcaraz to Vinnie Jr. And Rodrigo. And we have all these amazing photos of them with the toy. So we use that to help amplify and so that would be one of bringing us into new audiences. We have another one coming up, you know, with an Atlanta based mural artist called Greg Mike. It's actually dropping later this week where, you know, he's very much into the core artsy. He has an amazing space in Atlanta. He's doing stuff at Art Basel this week in Miami. And so with those, it is deeper into that art space. Can we do a very cool curated wall mural? Can we have potentially a live art experience with the Drop at Art Basel? Because we know that community is already going to be there and doing things. So we do try and customize these artist product drops to kind of align with what we feel the fans are going to be into and what the artist is known for. And so when someone like Greg Mike's going to be at Art Bas, that makes sense. When someone like Genga is going to be in LA and you have the Brazilian soccer team in for a soccer game or LeBron James, let's see them product and capture a lot of content around it and then their stuff in between. But we do want to bring our artists very close to our fans and then really have it be more of a partnership where they're involved with the drop and pushing it versus just licensing something and selling it and then we're manufacturing. That is not what we do at Super Plastic at all. It really is that kind of blend of the IP and so that comes with how we bring it to market and how we sell it and really talk to and engage with our fans.
- [21:15]
Zach Sugarman
So shameless plug for the YouTube channel. Because our YouTube channel is blowing up. So we got to. You got to be watching this to get the full experience. If you're listening right now, we love you. We know you love you. We love you for making us number one. But look, you have to watch us on YouTube because Jennifer was just holding up one of these characters. Jennifer, I want you to hold. Hold them up again and tell me who that is. Who is? Okay, who is this exactly?
- [21:40]
Jennifer Van Dyke
This is one of the three that we did with Genga, the artist that Zach just mentioned. And what's interesting is this is actually a perfect illustration of a combination between a series of toy that we do called the Choppy. That's like the sort of eye and mask thing, but also with an astronaut, which was the integration with Genga's character that he has drawn, which is more of a sort of astronaut type character. So it was a perfect combination. And as Zach said, we did three different versions of it. One that we did in extremely limited quantities that sold out immediately. The other two in slightly less limited quantities, but still small. Those also sold out pretty fast. Yeah, how.
- [22:23]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, that was going to be where I was getting, like, how rare are we talking about now? How. How's the valuation on these pieces, these going?
- [22:32]
Jennifer Van Dyke
So, you know, and that's. That is the ultimate, I think, spreadsheet project is, you know, how rare is rare enough? And to be honest, it is some, you know, magical equation between the size of your audience and quantities that you should make. We have in our history done a lot of different experiments with scarcity. Zach and I have, in the past year, really started to change the approach, though, to go more and more rare for these types of toys because they are so valuable when they're in the smaller quantities, both for us in our business, but as well as for buyers and, you know, the secondary market, which is a really interesting and thriving opportunity for everybody.
- [23:26]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, and it's a really interesting point, Jennifer, because I think about it like, as the CEO, is this a brand player, revenue play? Right? Because it's like, hey, I could sell. Am I gonna sell a million of these or am I gonna do a hundred of them or a thousand? And that's because the hundred or thousand is probably brand, because it's probably not a ton of revenue, but it elevates the brand value and the character value. That's an interesting interplay, I'm sure, in the decision process.
- [23:57]
Jennifer Van Dyke
It's a fantastic question because it is the core of why we call ourselves an IP or a media company. Because that is our asset, that is our value and that is our goal is to be larger than kind of any one tool to bring that to fans and toys. And our high end collectibles are unequivocally a fantastic brand opportunity to connect deeply with a community. We would argue the same is true for our experiential space in Vegas, for our game on Fortnite, for our social media content and our longer format stuff. All of those things become very important tools for how we grow and expand the IP that we build and, and you know, want fans to love. It's, it is unequivocally brand.
- [24:52]
Zach Sugarman
Yes. Yeah, I'm sure. And that's. But I want our audience. You know, we have a very affluent marketing and business and executives to the startup got the crowd but they need to understand this interplay because we've gotten conditioned in this world of very cheap performance marketing stuff. Sell, sell, sell, sell. And that's great. We all gotta make the cash register ring at a certain point. Jennifer, I know you probably held the, you know, some, some level of your evaluation I'm sure is monetarily driven. However, you can't. The high tide raises all ships and when you elevate the brand, you are elevating the IP to a level of evaluation that it would not have without that investment. And that investment pays over time unequivocally.
- [25:40]
Jennifer Van Dyke
And it, and there's, there's really kind of two components that you know, we balance in our business. The first is really this. How do collectors work? Right? What is, what is the way that a core collector base grows a brand? And I learned this when I was in the NFT space at Dapper Labs. The, the biggest collectors, your most avid collectors are actually the ones that attract the most, you know, attention and others to your brand. So it doesn't work where it's like a concentric circle outward. It works where whales or your biggest collectors, you know, bring in kind of the fringe. So it's almost like from the furthest out is attracted in by your core collector group. And so it is incredibly important for us, and Zach articulated this too, to keep that core collector satisfied and happy and intrigued. That's one dynamic in our brand and that also has, you know, the scarcity and the, and the revenue limitation to it. At the same time, our mass reach and our collection of targeted segments that make a mess on social media platforms and other larger format vehicles is equally important to us because that Also brings new people into the funnel and gives us, if you will, the currency to be able to spread that IP through other channels that will make us revenue. Right. Like personally, I would love it if Toys was our smallest revenue channel because it would mean we've succeeded as a brand to be able to, you know, make the core collector happy with the best stuff, but also make a business out of the other revenue that we have in our, you know, in, in our platform.
- [27:29]
Zach Sugarman
Smart. Really fucking smart.
- [27:31]
Jennifer Van Dyke
I got two smarts out of you, Ryan. I loved it.
- [27:34]
Zach Sugarman
Yes. Yeah, because you played. This is the Ryan offered brand playbook. I, I grew up on the, I've been in this for 20 something years and watched, you know, some of the brand, the, the innovative brand approaches erode. And this is a game of chess when a lot of players are playing checkers and I see that and I value it. So I want to give you props for that.
- [27:58]
Paul Budnitz
Appreciate that.
- [27:59]
Zach Sugarman
Zach, talk to me, you know, as a collector and as someone that, you know, you're, you're, you're a consumer and working on the brand. Do I do me and my kids need to get in on this.
- [28:15]
Paul Budnitz
We'll happily send you some so the kids can have some fun. I mean the answer is yes. So I, I, I have a near 13 year old and my wife definitely enables us and support in a big way. But yeah, I mean he got back into collecting toys, also sports cards, comic cards. When there are local card shows in town, I'll buy a table for him and his friends to put up, you know, their collections and sell and then it's a little business for him. So depending on your kids are, you could turn them into the, what's the value of the secondary market? You know, how do you buy low, sell high? What a track. What not to, how to frame things up. I mean isn't the number one thing kids want to do when they're later be an influencer so at least put some business mind behind them so there's not just an influencer. It's like, hey, I'm an influencer but I have a $30,000 a year side business on eBay and I'm 14. Like rather see that on the resume. So, so I've got my kid into it.
- [29:05]
Zach Sugarman
We have four boys, 15, 13, 12 and eight. And what I do with the boys, I coach their sports teams. And then we have these little collectibles that we do together. So this might fit in there a little better.
- [29:18]
Paul Budnitz
I feel like we're brothers from another mother on different coast. Yeah, I am our coach of soccer and flag football and then do the same and we'll have all those things. They're great. Your older boys will love our content. Your 8 year old should not watch.
- [29:31]
Zach Sugarman
Watch it. Yeah, well, he can grow into it over time. But, but it's fun being a core.
- [29:38]
Paul Budnitz
Collector because I, I, I mean, the passion comes through the work and engage. Like, it's very authentic and natural for me because I, I literally did grow up in San Diego bringing my box of comics down to the San Diego Comic Con back when you could sell and buy comics. You know, this is in the late 80s, early 90s, and now it's the most amazing entertainment vehicle extravaganza ever. But like, no one buys or sell comics there yet. It's called Comic Con. It's really just a pop culture fest. But then to now. And so when we're engaging these people, like, I understand the nostalgia feel, I understand the, you know, how you want to display. Like, I'm not in my family cave, which has all the toys and the cards. It's over in the garage. But like, it's fun to have out. We have things around the house. People love asking questions about it and then you can explain. So I'm more of an extroverted collector. We have some that are introverted that may not want to talk about it, but you know, behind that glass door, that's where they get validation because they have all their toys set up. But that's more of an introverted collector. And maybe they just want, you know, you to send them stuff, but they don't want it to be loud and broadcast. Whereas others like, yeah, here are photos of my collection. We're running something right now called Deck the Halls over the Holiday campaign, where we're asking everyone to show off their super plastic collection. And we're having submissions come in online and then we're sharing them on social and then rewarding our favorites and other toys. And like, people have the most amazing setups ever with how they display our art figures in their house. And so it's very cool. But then because of that, it's like, well, this doesn't just have to be collectibles. Like, these kind of look just amazing in a lobby. Like, why don't hotels have this? Or law firms or consulting agencies? These are great gifts. Instead of your boring corporate holiday gift, why don't we do some custom painted art figures and even if they're not a collector, just give them something cool and different. So, yeah, it's fun to play in the collector angle. But then, you know, understand that everyone doesn't have to collect it. At the end of the day, it just looks cool too. And that's okay. If they just want to say it looks cool and have no other connection there, that's fine with us. Like, we'll play with that.
- [31:36]
Zach Sugarman
I want to talk about Vegas and the future retail. But before we go, before we make that turn, talk to me about how your sports background has influenced, like, what you've done here. You know what, what's the influences for both of you really? Like, I think it's pretty obvious for me, but I think for the audience, you know, what you've done in the past and how that's sort of influencing what you're doing at Super Plastics.
- [32:03]
Paul Budnitz
Yeah, I'll start and then go ahead. Yeah, you can land on top. So my background in sports was kind of always around monetizing communities, mostly more in the rights holder side. So I worked a lot with teams, leagues, rights holders, sponsorship strategy, merchandise sales, ticket sales, media rights. But at the core of it was. Was really like, okay, what are these fans into? How do we give them more of that? How do we monetize in the channel in an authentic way? So that applies to NBA, that applies to global soccer, that could apply to a premier league lacrosse team, that could apply to a esports team. So from big to niche, it was still always around monetizing community and understanding that people consume differently. They want to be met on different channels, they want to be told different messages, and how can we personalize that to them? So applying that mentality, just bringing it over into the collectible world, it really is about monetizing our community. We have our core base of fans. They are really into the vinyl art toys. We can grow more fans by engaging them with our content, with experience. We can monetize across all those channels individually, but also collectively. And how do we do that while staying authentic to our brand, which we're not trying to be everything to everyone. And so we're making choices. So, like, for me, it's a very economic mindset of, you know, what resources do we have? What's the best use of them for our end game? And would always do that in applying into the sports world, teams and so applying it in here. And then there's just the parallel of just fandom. Like, fandom is very similar. People love our characters and brand. Kind of like they would do a sports team. There are, you know, live things they can go to now with Vegas, there are products that they have and display and collect, and then there's content that they're consuming. So I. I kind of look at it in that lens, but I know, Jim, you got some other ones, too.
- [33:55]
Zach Sugarman
I want to ask one thing there, Zach. So when you guys monetize, I mean, thinking through the lens that you just said, and are you guys working with brands that then are paying to come to life within your worlds with these characters? Like, are y'all selling?
- [34:13]
Paul Budnitz
That's one way. Yeah. We're not a white label, like animation factory, but absolutely. Like, we. I mean, we pursue all brand partnerships to hit across all three of our tent poles, being kind of content, IP being the first, product being the second, and in real life experience being the third. So, yes, like, absolutely. There. There are things we deliver that are viewed as sponsorship that they're paying us. They're also things we're making together, whether that's product or new ip, where there's a path to revenue for both sides and everything in between. So we do look at partnerships in a truly partnership way. But, yeah, absolutely, we're bringing a lot of eyeballs, a lot of fans, consumers to the table. There's value in that. If we're putting additional animation resources and making a new IP and then taking it to market, there's a value in that. And that's very different than, hey, we made a toy together. Here's how many we sold. Here's your royalty. But that also is included in what we do.
- [35:04]
Zach Sugarman
So Janky might be drinking a Red Bull. And product placement, like, do we go that far? Or something? You know, we would want to have a little hurting the brand. Right?
- [35:17]
Paul Budnitz
We've done. Here's an example. We did something with Mercedes where, you know, they had an amazing new car release coming out, and they wanted a collab around a new character, a new product. So we actually came together and created a new character called a Super Tackle, which is kind of like an animated dog. But then we made this awesome limited edition wood figure. We had some apparel that part of a capsule collection was available when they released the car. And then we did a big in real life event in New York also as tied to it. We then made a lot of content with Super Dackel and kind of pushed that out there. And that was all integrated in one overall partnership. So it's more around that than just like the, hey, here's a Red Bull. Drink it. We would like to have more fun. We would want to get a bowl that maybe is red involved? You know, does it lead to F1 in Vegas, where maybe they have to drink to kind of stay up awake for 48 hours and go to all the events. Does it culminate with Red Bull VIPs at dopamine? Like I'm riffing here off the spot, but that's how I would kind of think of that partnership.
- [36:22]
Zach Sugarman
Oh, yeah. And I guess I'm almost thinking through the lens of like Roblox, like, you know, within the Janky. Yeah. Googie Mon's world. These experiences coming to life, the brand experiences in their world, you know.
- [36:38]
Paul Budnitz
Yeah. So in our Fortnite map game, like we're doing that, we have two partnerships that just closed where we're integrating virtual goods. So like they. There will be one is a beverage company where if you find it and get it, it makes you graffiti faster. You have power ups in the game. There may be a billboard or a branded vending machine that's in there that you can just interact with. And so, yeah, we're putting the brands literally in our worlds in those ways. Absolutely.
- [37:01]
Zach Sugarman
Cool.
- [37:02]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Ryan, you asked if it hurts the brand. I think the question is whose brand? Because we're only going to do it in our fun style. And if it works. I mean, the Mercedes example, if you look at the content, the content is actually a story of turning a standard sort of dashboard bobbing dog into a cool kid. And that's because Janky and Guggeman take him to the stars and kind of make him cool. So it's really a transitional story as well. By the way, that was Mercedes best performing campaign for people under 35 that year. So, you know, it's balancing the edge with the audience.
- [37:42]
Paul Budnitz
They did a glam up of the dog. People loved it.
- [37:45]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah.
- [37:46]
Paul Budnitz
Gotta have the story there.
- [37:48]
Zach Sugarman
Jennifer, talk to me about Vegas. You know, we've talked, you know, before the episode. You know, retail's struggled, you know, with what they need to do to bring people back into the stores and keep people, you know, interested in shopping. Again. Talk to me about the vision and what you're doing in Vegas.
- [38:06]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Yeah, the. So Vegas is really the start of a whole new level or chapter for Super Plastic. This idea was incubated about a year ago when we discovered a partner called Area 15 in Las Vegas. And Area 15 is a. I think they have 100 acres of property. About 25 acres are developed into sort of a Burning man meets mall experiential location. And it's great because it's just off the strip and it is literally an oasis of all these types of different experiential venues. That you can go spend time in and engage with. And what it became for us was the perfect way for us literally to take our characters in our worlds that were born of social media and bring them to audiences and fans in real life to continue those narratives. So we've opened what we call the Dopamine Institute for Pleasure research at Area 15 in Las Vegas. Opened a week ago. It is part incredible retail store with our toys as well as with our Vegas specific dopamine specific product. But what it is is also a ticketed experience that where you become part of the action, you become part of Janky and Guggyman's latest scheme, which is to suck your dopamine out and sell it back to you. That is their next get rich quick scheme. So when you step inside, you are immediately transported to sort of a back alley in Queens, just where we all want to be. Right. And the, you know, the location is authentic graffiti. It looks like an off track betting location. If you remember what those look like. That's sort of where you start. You go into a room that looks. Then you go into a room that looks like the DMV even worse. And you're like, wait, where am I? And all of it is to get you into this scheme of theirs where you are a test subject that they are putting you through different trials for how you elicit dopamine so that they can capture it and sell it back to you. How do you elicit dopamine? Exercise? Dancing? Telling the truth or lying? Being creative. So we have different rooms. And by the way, you go through this experience with a group of friends from start to finish, it's kind of all pulsed through and you end up in this really funny story where you have to do certain physical things to engage with it. But then the scam is in the last room and you end up in the control room where they've been monitoring you the whole time. In that room, we've integrated a whole bunch of cool stuff where you can actually mess with the groups behind you and you realize that the groups in front of you are messing with you. It's truly interactive and story driven. And we've even integrated some AI characters where you can talk to our characters for as long as you want. All kinds, kinds of different stuff to really bring people into the world.
- [41:16]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it sounds fun. Number one, I'm like, you know, sounds like amusement, Amusement ride meets storytelling meets, I don't know, animated characters that you love.
- [41:29]
Jennifer Van Dyke
So it's like, it's A demented escape room. Except we let you out. Even if you get the puzzle.
- [41:34]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah.
- [41:34]
Paul Budnitz
And when we let you out, it's even better. When we let you out or when you come in, it goes right into our flagship retail store, which is available to anybody that goes to Area 15. They don't have to get a ticket to Dopamine. So we have kind of all of our amazing vinyl art figures from all of our artist collections there. We have some Dopamine exclusive kind of merchandise, apparel, fun Vegas items, some things that tie into a pleasure research institute that have nothing to do with vinyl art toys. So it's a vibe and a whole experience that'll be there and it's great. And we're getting great feedback from, you know, randoms that have know nothing about our brands, to those that have been waiting for it open, that have gone out since it's been open, to those that have been in town for other events in Vegas, both on the experience and on the retail side.
- [42:20]
Zach Sugarman
Any Easter eggs there where surprises?
- [42:25]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Lots. Absolutely. You're, you, you navigate the experience with an RFID wristband in every room and you end up finding a whole basket of goodies at the end when you download your wristband for sure.
- [42:40]
Zach Sugarman
That's cool.
- [42:42]
Jennifer Van Dyke
You know, the fun part too for us is that Area 15 sees about 3 million people a year walk through their doors. So the overwhelming majority of people that are going to come go through our experience or, or be in our interactive retail shop is, are new to us. Right. They may have heard of us, but they don't know us. So I think we've achieved that mission again of satisfying the core fans with something really cool and a new adventure, but also really indoctrinating those who, who haven't heard of us yet.
- [43:17]
Zach Sugarman
Really fun stuff, guys. Where are we headed? You know, sounds like we're living the, you know, the plan right now with the, with the new Vegas experience and all that, but, you know, any future plans we can share?
- [43:33]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Absolutely. So Variety magazine called us the next Marvel supreme and Disney combined. And that's the mission. Billion dollar platform for the new generation. We've got the characters in the universe. We continue to develop more of them. We have the cool factor of the supreme brand nature. And now, frankly, with the opening of Dopamine and the experiential, it's our first step towards Disney. And those are, you know, hundred billion dollar companies. So we see no limit to the IP potential and the ability to continue to engage fans and immerse them, you know, into the worlds along the way.
- [44:16]
Zach Sugarman
I mean, you know, Disney's a little syrupy for me, so I like demented Disney much better.
- [44:23]
Jennifer Van Dyke
Right.
- [44:23]
Zach Sugarman
I'm just twisted enough, you know, that.
- [44:26]
Paul Budnitz
This feels in one of my strategy decks.
- [44:28]
Zach Sugarman
We got it.
- [44:29]
Paul Budnitz
We're embracing it. Although some would say Disney's already pretty demented. We bring it to a whole new level maybe.
- [44:35]
Jennifer Van Dyke
But that's exactly it. Right? Like this is not your father's, you know, amusement park and and this is not your father's IP brand. I mean, and that's the fun of it. We get to create it. You know, my experience from the sports business was always working with the best IP on the planet. And the best IP on the planet comes with guidelines and guidebooks. This thing, thick, super plastic doesn't. Super plastic is a world that we get to create, you know, what fans want and what we think is. Is next on the horizon. And that's the fun of it.
- [45:07]
Zach Sugarman
Yep, it is. And you know, own your different and you're doing just that. Yeah, for sure. Hey guys. Working everybody learn more about dopamine, what you guys are doing, different ways to get in touch with you and the brand.
- [45:24]
Jennifer Van Dyke
So the best way is to go to Superplastic co products Dopamine. The other aspects are follow our characters, follow us on social. We are at Janky and Googiemon on TikTok. We are at Superplastic on YouTube and we do have the character channels at Janky and at Googymon on Instagram. But uper plastic on Instagram will get you there too too.
- [45:51]
Zach Sugarman
Love it.
- [45:52]
Paul Budnitz
And then for dopamine specific, we just launched @dopamine702 on Instagram. For all things from that experience. We'll be pushing a lot of content but out there but you'll see it on all channels. A lot of fun ways to engage.
- [46:07]
Zach Sugarman
It's been fun, guys. Appreciate you coming on.
- [46:11]
Paul Budnitz
We gotta get you dressed. Want to hear what the boys are into and the fam. And get this collected store.
- [46:16]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, I'd like to get it. We'll. We'll put it up. You know, I got get a pretty good following. We'll put some. Give you guys some love on there too.
- [46:24]
Paul Budnitz
For those who are watching us, you can tell they're great zoom backgrounds, you know, all those listeners at home, podcasts or otherwise.
- [46:31]
Zach Sugarman
I need some sitting. I look, I got my props in here. I need some sitting right here, you know, I think so.
- [46:38]
Paul Budnitz
What's your finishing move on the wrestling belt?
- [46:41]
Zach Sugarman
Oh, are you kidding me? That's the. It's the Stinger splash. That's old school. You know, that's back in the days of wrestling. Back in the day. But you gotta paint your face the.
- [46:54]
Paul Budnitz
Black and white to do that.
- [46:55]
Zach Sugarman
Yeah, exactly. Yes, that. The Scorpion Deathlock. You know, if they really want it, but, you know, we'll see. That was my favorite wrestler growing up.
- [47:03]
Paul Budnitz
So when we do our WWE Blind Box series, I know where to send you some toys.
- [47:08]
Zach Sugarman
Yes, for sure. Hey, guys, you know where to find us. Ryan is right Dot com. We'll have all the highlight links to Super Plastic Dopam Meme. My favorite word of. Of the year, maybe. Here's we close out. We appreciate you for making us number one. Go check out the YouTube channel and give these guys some love. We'll see you next time. Right about now, this has been Right.
- [47:32]
Ryan Alford
About now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production.
- [47:35]
Zach Sugarman
This.
- [47:36]
Ryan Alford
Visit ryanisright.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities. Thanks for listening.