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While Stanley 1913 \u2014 and specifically its Quencher water bottle \u2014 may have experienced a strong surge of virality a few years ago, its leadership now feels the brand has moved beyond that flash-in-the-pan energy and into a more enduring place in the American psyche.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery early on we started talking about the Stanley lifestyle, ensuring that we’re becoming a lifestyle brand and we’re not just a hot cup company. \u2018Hot cup company\u2019 is really dangerous for brands,\u201d Matt Navarro, global president of PMI WW Brands, which owns Stanley 1913, said in an interview. Stanley, he believes, has \u201cpushed past that\u201d marker. \u201cQuencher is incredibly popular. It’s still our best-selling product \u2026 but we certainly are still working really hard to make sure that around the world, frankly, we’re looked at in many places in people’s lives, not just the Quencher use case.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about time, too. Although Stanley earned a spot on Circana\u2019s list of fastest-growing outdoor brands last year, chatter has already begun about its inevitable demise across a variety of social platforms. After all, wasn\u2019t there the year of the Owala and the Hydro Flask as well?<\/p>\n
Some research also points to fading interest in Stanley\u2019s drinkware.\u00a0In Piper Sandler\u2019s most recent survey of teen shoppers, Stanley cups and tumblers were ranked as a top 5 fashion trend by female teens, next to the likes of Uggs and hoodies.\u00a0However, those same water bottles were also listed as a top 5 fashion trend that\u2019s on its way out, according to those same teens.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s much more than a viral moment,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cWe’re in year five of the virality and really turning to, how do we set this brand up for the next 100 years? Which for me is really rooted in: How do we create the Stanley lifestyle? And really, we call ourselves a lifestyle brand, but how do we make sure we show up to consumers that way?\u201d<\/p>\n
From Stanley cup to Stanley\u2026 cooler?<\/h3>\n Navarro wasn\u2019t sure about Stanley when he first saw a job opportunity there. Coming from Amer Sports, owner of Arc\u2019teryx and Wilson Sporting Goods, he wanted something that was a closer match to his experience. But he warmed to the idea of \u201cbreathing life back into\u201d a century-old brand that had gone quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is nobody had heard from us in about 30 years,\u201d Navarro said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thus began an effort to modernize the brand and take advantage of white space in the market by leaning hard into hydration. That focus is representative of Stanley\u2019s third \u201cera,\u201d in Navarro\u2019s eyes, the first being as a provider of hot food and beverage storage for workers in the early 1900s and the second as it transformed into an outdoorsy brand around the \u201860s. With the brand\u2019s newest era also came its crown-wearing, wing-toting mythical bear logo, inspired by the many tall tales of customer encounters with a bear and their Stanley.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really finding the white space, I think, in that category that was being untapped around Gen Z, a more female consumer,\u201d Navarro said of its current hydration era. \u201cAlso taking our product from utility more to like cultural icon and being part of your fashion, part of trend, part of lifestyle, connection to culture. Which, frankly, previous to 2020, nobody thought about water bottles that way. And today, people are every day matching them to outfits and prom dresses and fun things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The more intense of Stanley\u2019s fan base collect the brand\u2019s Quencher tumblers \u2014 and Stanley leans into that behavior with limited-edition colors and launches around holidays like Valentine\u2019s Day and Mother\u2019s Day. The retailer has partnerships with celebrities as far apart as Olivia Rodrigo and Lionel Messi, though Navarro stresses that the retailer looks for authentic fans of the brand to partner with in that way.<\/p>\n
The goal? \u201cTo make sure we’re right at the heart of culture, and I would say specifically youth culture,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cNow that we have that Stanley consumer, it’s like, how do we meet them within more places throughout their lives?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That means not just leaning into the Quencher and handy accessories like straws, but building up hydration options for athletes, parents and others. The company\u2019s IceFlow bottle franchise is also quite popular, according to Navarro, as are some of its storage options. And the retailer is looking at new categories as well. Coolers and \u201cwearable water\u201d are two of those opportunities Stanley plans to lean into.<\/p>\n\nPortable beveragewear as a category is on the rise, according to data from Circana. The segment grew 15% last year, reaching $3.1 billion, and is also generating sales at sporting goods retailers. According to the data firm, sporting goods companies saw sales of water bottles and other insulated containers grow 14% in 2024, on top of 38% growth the year prior.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nWhile Stanley 1913 still sells plenty of Quenchers, the brand believes there’s white space in adjacent categories.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Stanley 1913<\/p>\n
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\u201cI actually think we’ve been able to be a disrupter in a space that had stayed a little stagnant for a while. I think we’re pushing the envelope there,\u201d Navarro said, calling its cross bottle the first nonround vacuum and \u201ctruly innovative\u201d in the category. \u201cWe’re learning as we go too, right? But it’s super cool and fun to be doing something nobody’s ever done before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Material, color and finish can also be innovated further, according to Navarro, and that includes making them more sustainable. Most of the brand\u2019s products use 90% or more recycled stainless steel and Stanley continues to be focused on eliminating single-use plastic.<\/p>\n
Even if consumers in the U.S. begin to tire of the Stanley fandom, there\u2019s still the rest of the world. Diversifying its shoppers to include global consumers is a \u201ckey part\u201d of the brand\u2019s strategy, and Stanley is already \u201cgrowing really fast\u201d in Europe, Asia and Australia, among other places. While Stanley has a global product range, the regions themselves can choose which items to sell that will have the most local relevance, and Stanley is pursuing partnerships and collaborations unique to those regions as well.<\/p>\n\nOf course, there\u2019s a downside to all the popularity Stanley has accrued. Dupes of the real thing abound, from various online sites to products from its name-brand competitors created in response to the phenomenon. While frustrating, Navarro says it ultimately doesn\u2019t impact the water bottle brand that much.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople care a lot about the brand and the logo, and that’s because we’ve curated this lifestyle and what we stand for,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cYou can buy a Quencher without the Stanley logo on it from dozens and dozens of companies, but we’re still No. 1 by a lot \u2026 [Shoppers] care about the brand and they connect the brand with their life and their lifestyle \u2014 and that’s what really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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