How Nerds Candy Went From $50M To $500M

So, did you know Nerds had about $50 million in sales about 6 years ago? This year, Nerds gummy clusters alone has generated more than $500 million. You remember Nerds? You used to eat Nerds?

Uh, I didn't really eat them much as a kid. Their food coloring, you see some of it's made out of like insects. and stuff, right?

Is it?

Yeah, you didn't know that? I should send you the YouTube, uh, Instagram.

Well, I never ate them. I don't know why people ate them. I thought they were disgusting, right? But there's a Wall Street Journal post here called America's Newest Hit Candy Is Gummy, Crunchy, and Printing Money. The growing popularity of Nerds gummy clusters is an improbable outcome for a brand that has existed for more than 4 decades, has become such an afterthought, right? So basically, um, it was acquired in 2018, and then, um, they acquired the gummy cluster company? No. So they— the gummy cluster was an idea, I think. Um, so let me just read this over here. So when the brand was acquired In 2018, the entire Nerds line has roughly $40 million in sales. In the hopes of revitalizing a stale brand from the 1980s, the privately held candy conglomerate knew it needed to develop a new product. Nerds got their glow-up with the 2020 release of a bean-shaped, gummy-coated, and technicolor irregularly shaped pebbles, right? The following year, Nerds gummy clusters were responsible for nearly $100 million of sales, according to the company. This year, sales have crossed $500 million even before Halloween. This one new product Now generates 90% of Nerds' overall revenue, and it rivals Starburst, Sour Patch Kids, and even Skittles.

They should sell the company.

They should. Yeah. Whoever bought it should sell it again. It was probably private equity that bought it. They're probably gearing up to sell it again.

Yeah.

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It's like the Stanley Cup.

Yeah. The reusable water bottles are one of the most sought-after forms of beverage containment, largely thanks to TikTok. Stanley's revenue jumped from $74 million in 2019 to $750 million in 2023. Oh my God, they do what, $100 million a year?

More. The reason Stanley Cup blew up was they were, before they were like, yeah, we're going to target construction workers. And then some blogger influencer was like, hey, can I get these cups in a pastel color? I want to do a campaign. They ended up doing it and they realized it started taking off with moms and then they just leaned into it and they're like, huh, this makes us way more money than trying to sell these cups to like construction workers.

Yeah. And they do, I mean, I have like the Yeti ones. I just buy Yeti stuff. And I think Yeti does over $100 million a year too. So yeah, I don't know. I mean, like, so this guy over here, this— he led the team that created Nerds. Um, and then this cluster thing over here. So that's what these clusters look like. Um, maybe we'll do it over here. You guys see the clusters?

Oh, there's more than one flavor.

Yeah. And, uh, Nerds gummy clusters creators shrink the size of the hard shell Nerd candy to best coat the gummy middle, right? Um, so anyway, all that to say is, same with Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cups, right? Like, that was a new product line.

Isn't that the same product line?

But better marketing.

Uh, different marketing. They just changed the colors of the cups and they just started targeting women.

Yep. Well, anyway, sugar sales— you would think that sugar candy sales would be down, but they're actually up. Do you know by how much since 2020?

Uh, it must be a lot because sugar is addicting.

Yeah. So what percent do you think it's up?

Per year or in total? Total since I'll give it 40%.

74%.

Wow.

Yeah. So, oh yeah. Look, this is a nice article. Just go read it on Wall Street Journal. But I just think it's amazing. You can go, you can 10x this thing. And just by sticking with it, because Nerds have been around for so long. Sometimes you need someone to come in and revitalize the company. And that's what happened. So, yep. That is it for today. Again, from Frankfurt, Germany, this is Marketing School. And don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and go to marketingschool.io/agency If you want to join the Agency Owners Association, and we'll see you tomorrow. See you tomorrow.