A few years ago, I patiently stood in a long line at a bait and tackle shop at the beach. A fellow vacationer in front of me was dragging a behemoth cooler behind him through the line. When he checked out and the proprietor told him his total, the man shook his head. Having myself heard the fairly large cost of the cooler, I thought he was shaking his head in disbelief (the same disbelief I had). Instead, he grinned and said, “I’ve always wanted one of these.” 

“One of these” turned out to be a YETI. And “always” turned out to be, at most, just a few years, since YETI coolers were just then becoming wildly popular. In this blog, we recently presented a case study for “re-branding” by examining KIA cars over the past fifteen years or so. YETI, on the other hand, is a good case study in branding a new or relatively unknown product or company (but several of the important principles still apply to established companies). 

As you may know, YETI coolers came about because two outdoorsman brothers grew tired of crappy coolers. They simply wanted a more functional, better quality product for their own hunting and fishing experiences. A couple of decades on, their quality cooler is far more than a mechanism to keep meat and fish fresh. It’s a status symbol and a cultural icon. Oh, and it’s an incredibly successful company.   

How did this happen? 

Answer: a focus on quality and superior branding. 

As we talked about with KIA and their re-brand, the essential first ingredient in success for YETI is a quality product. At that bait and tackle shop, while my fellow vacationer dragged his behemoth YETI through the line, I held a small Styrofoam $10 cooler which was barely better than a cardboard box. Or probably less durable than a cardboard box.   

For years, the established brands seemed to put out mostly the same old thing – very little seemed to differ from, say, Igloo to Coleman. They pretty much DID the same thing the same way, so like a commodity, customers generally made their decisions based on price.   

YETI changed that. Through research and product development, they did indeed make a far superior product. The handles and latches were better. The ice retention was better. They emphasized durability. And they simply looked cooler. Even now, YETI seems to dedicate itself to staying in the “cutting edge” of cooler technology (to whatever extent there is a cutting edge to cooler technology) by their investment in innovation and research.   

But the superior product didn’t merely show up on shelves and start selling better. It didn’t simply sit next to Coleman and Igloo on the shelves and list its best attributes on a sticker. No, YETI truly innovated by its branding strategy. First, the company’s messaging emphasized “lifestyle” marketing – focusing on the story of the outdoorsman, centering that lifestyle. It placed its product within that story, not the center of it, but as part and parcel of the hunter’s and fisherman’s narrative. 

The effect of this branding is clear now: as mentioned above, the YETI cooler is a cultural icon, not merely a high-quality product. Think about it like Air Jordans. Those aren’t sneakers – they are symbols. YETI achieved a similar thing with coolers (although they aren’t yet to the rarified status of Air Jordans). One can see this in the fact that no longer is the YETI cooler merely for outdoorsman, for “experts” in the field and those with the highest need for a high-quality product. Their products started there and then transcended that community. 

YETI also brought some unique tactics to build their brand. First, they initially started their marketing primarily through “influencers” in the outdoors sphere. In doing so, they adopted a direct-to-consumer model rather than focusing primarily on retailers (and even now, the overwhelming majority of retails sales they make are through small retailers).   

So, what are some takeaways for you as a business owner? Whether you are a startup (like YETI was less than 20 years ago) or are an established company, there are some lessons we can take from the wild success of the high-quality cooler company. 

First, quality, quality, quality. Quality matters. Just like we saw with KIA’s reinvention which started with a focus on quality, so YETI’s journey as a company started with making an excellent product. YETI products exist at the high end of the price spectrum; the company doesn’t compete on price. They believed that customers would pay for high quality in a field that had been ho-hum for a long time, and they turned out to be right. So, quality matters. It’s a non-negotiable. 

Second, in a crowded, commodity-like market, YETI changed the playing field. Instead of playing on price, they played on quality and branding. Think about your own USP (unique selling proposition). What do you do differently and better than anyone else? Shift the conversation away from price and towards your unique strengths. Revolve your messaging around that unique strength, that unique story. The kind of lifestyle branding YETI does may not apply to your company or industry, but you ought to consider what it is that your company brings to the table which no one else does. If you don’t have a USP, develop one.   

YETI is a unique company and has a unique story. A few simple steps aren’t going to transform every company into a billion-dollar powerhouse. However, every business owner can look at examples like YETI to realize the vital roles quality and branding play in a company’s success.