MrBeast, the internet star sold 1 million chocolate bars within just 72 hours for his new brand Feastables. Fast-forward a few months later the brand had done $10 million in revenue. So. How the hell did he do it?
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is known for his viral YouTube videos and marketing tactics that often involve wild stunts and a focus on data. As of January 2022 his main YouTube channel has over 125 million subscribers with over 20 billion views.
So MrBeast has the audience but no experience in selling consumer goods or competing with Mars or Cadbury but Jim Murray (former president of protein bar company RXBar) does.
There has been a trend over the last few years where instead of relying on traditional methods like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to promote a brand, Entrepreneurs instead work with creators by either co-founding the company/brand together or giving them a share in the business to promote the product. This creates an instant audience for the brand and enables the creator to generate an additional income stream which is not based on YouTube advertising.
Time and time again acquiring and keeping customers has proven to be the hardest part of any business. By building a brand with a content creator that aligns well with their audience has shown to have:
- Lower Cost of Acquisition (Brand Trust)
- High Life-Time Value (Brand Loyalty)
- Great Margins (Premiums Product with Premium Price)
This is one of the key strategies to the success of Feastables. By merging the operational chops of Jim Murry with the reach of Jimmy Donaldson (Mr Beast) they were able to take a completely unknown brand from 0 to $10 million in just a few months. A milestone which can take years or even a decade in most cases for a brand to reach.
This is an advertising website so let’s dive into the strategies Mr Beast used to promote the brand.
Blurring the lines between advertising and content
Innovation in marketing has been crucial to Jimmy’s success, in addition to his large following. He frequently uses creative and unique concepts in his marketing campaigns, blurring the line between ads and content in order to generate excitement for product launches, improve conversions, and connect with his fans.
To announce the launch of Feastables, MrBeast included the brand in his latest video, “World’s Most Dangerous Escape Room.” The video’s title and thumbnail did not mention Feastables. Nor did the the first 50% of the video. MrBeast focuses on seamlessly integrating the ad into the content so the audience never feels sold too. It’s only after the 4 minute mark where you see the announcement but is interwoven into a challenge so it’s still part of the content. The escape room challenge in the video had similarities to the Feastables “Mystery Ticket” promotion, with contestants in the video searching for a mystery ticket to escape the room, similar to how fans would search for the mystery ticket at home to win prizes.
The audience could win up to a million dollars in prizes like Teslas, Seadoos, and a lifetime supply of chocolate to those who purchased the bars.
There was also a prize of 10 special golden tickets. Where finders got invited to participate in a YouTube video with MrBeast and compete for the chance to win his chocolate factory, a replica of Willy Wonka’s famous factory, in a video.
This video has already received more than 144 million views and he had several sponsors in the video which lowered his production cost.
Most of the challenges were Feastables-focused allowing MrBeast to seamlessly integrate sponsors and original content into one video all while keeping the audience engaged and promoting Feastables. Players engaged in an eating contest, rode gondolas down rivers made of milk chocolate, and participated in a cooking competition where they made chocolate-based desserts judged by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Mr Beast also promoted the brand across his other social media channels like twitter.
and instagram.
MrBeast collaborated with influencers and celebrities to promote the brand.
Here is a collab he did with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Where Gordon compares $400 chocolate to MrBeasts $4 chocolate bar.
and here’s one he did with popular YouTubers Logan Paul and Casey Neistat where they try each others products.
Using these tactics Mr Beast was able take the brand from 0 to millions in less than a year.
MrBeast’s entrepreneurial journey is a great case study on how creators succeed as entrepreneurs or how brands can fast track their growth by partnering with content-creators.
