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

0:00So did you know, Nerds had about 50 million dollars in sales about six years ago. this year nerds gummy clusters alone has generated more than 500 million dollars

0:22you remember nerds you used to eat nerds uh i didn't really eat them much as a kid they're food coloring you see some of it's made out of like insects and stuff right is it yeah you You didn't know that? I should send you the YouTube 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 four decades has become such an afterthought, right?

0:50So basically, it was acquired in 2018. And then they acquired the gummy cluster company? No. So the gummy cluster was an idea, I think. So let me just read this over here. So when the brand was acquired in 2018, the entire Nerds Light 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.

1:23This year, sales have crossed$500 million even before Halloween. This one new product now generates 90 % of Nerd's overall revenue, and it rivals Starburst, Sour Patch Kids, and even Skittles. They should sell the company. 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. All right. So I wanted to take a second to tell you about the Agency Owners Association. So this is an agency peer group ran by my podcast co-host, Neil Patel, and myself, Eric Su. And these were nine and eight-figure agency owners, respectively.

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2:24So once November 30th hits, we're going to increase the price by$200 per month. So right now you're getting it at the lowest price possible. So go to marketingschool.io slash agency to learn more and we'll see you inside. Isn't that impressive though? Just sometimes you just need to figure out one new product and it changes the entire company. 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.

3:16huh, this makes us way more money than trying to sell these cups to construction workers. Yeah, and they do, I mean, I have the Yeti ones. I just buy Yeti stuff, and I think Yeti does over$100 million a year, too. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, so this guy over here, he led the team that created Nerds, and then this cluster thing over here, so that's what these clusters look like. Maybe I'll do it over here. You guys see the clusters? Oh, there's more than one flavor. Yeah, and Nerds gummy clusters creators shrink the size of the hard shell nerd candy to best coat the gummy middle, right? So anyway, all that to say is, same with Stanley Cup, the Stanley Cups, right?

3:53Like, that was a new product line. The same product line? But better marketing. Different marketing. They just changed the colors of the cups, and they 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? 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 2020. 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.

4:27You 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 slash agency if you wanna join the Agency Owners Association and we'll see you tomorrow.