Reside sports activities stays a dependable and rising marketplace for advertiser spend — to the tune of about $61 billion in 2024 — as manufacturers look to get in entrance of client eyeballs. However with large manufacturers dominating advert spend for main sports activities leagues just like the NFL and NBA, smaller manufacturers are compelled to succeed in farther afield to seek out devoted sports activities fan bases, an method private care model Dude Wipes scores excessive in.
In the previous few years, Dude Wipes has sponsored each a NASCAR race and a match at WWE’s WrestleMania. The model in January grew to become an official associate of the Skilled Bowlers Affiliation (PBA) and went viral final month with pin sweepers that carried “clears as a substitute of smears” messaging. Earlier than that, the model caught the eye of hockey followers with messaging on dasher boards on the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off that punned off hockey phrases with lavatory jokes (“defend your crease”).
Dude Wipes put model messaging on the pin sweepers at PBA occasions.
Permission granted by Dude Wipes
“Perry Ellis simply did a emblem slap, and nothing in opposition to them, that is their factor. They’ve much more cash to spend than me, so I would like to face out extra,” stated Dude Wipes Co-founder and CMO Ryan Meegan of the NHL advertisements, a few of which aired throughout a championship recreation considered by 10 million folks. “We had been actually fortunate alongside the best way to press the fitting buttons on the proper time, and we’re all the time trying to try this.”
Urgent the fitting advertising and marketing buttons — typically by counting on bathroom humor-fueled virality — has been essential for the CPG disruptor. Launched in 2012 by three faculty graduates who used to purchase child wipes in bulk from Sam’s Membership, Dude Wipes scored a “Shark Tank” funding in 2015 and now sees $200 million in annual gross sales.
Advertising Dive spoke with Meegan concerning the model’s “secret sauce” to going viral, how its method to artistic and media have developed because the model has grown and the way the model is experimenting with CTV advertisements by way of Amazon.
The next interview has been edited for readability and brevity.
MARKETING DIVE: Has Dude Wipes’ model positioning developed because the model has grown?
RYAN MEEGAN: Numerous our unique mindset and technique has not modified a ton. From the outset, we figured if we will be convincing folks to wipe their butts in a different way and speaking about one of the vital secretive, most taboo components of the physique, we would have liked to be humorous and genuine. This is not one thing that may very well be talked about severely or created in a boardroom with a bunch of fits.
Once we dove into making the model and doing advertising and marketing we simply caught with humorous lavatory humor. We consider Dude Wipes as simply one other pal within the room of a bunch of associates congregating and speaking bluntly and brashly. We discovered irrespective of how younger or outdated, a superb lavatory joke strikes all people the identical means.
What parts of the advertising and marketing have modified?
What we’ve discovered with rising budgets and rising sandboxes the place we are able to play is there are particular areas the place we have to tone it down somewhat bit extra versus the place we are able to nonetheless be our tremendous blunt selves.
Examples of that may be linear TV. We simply began our first mass media marketing campaign in 2024, and rapidly, networks had been like, “Yeah, you may’t do this. You possibly can’t say that.” So it is actually been a enjoyable however irritating studying expertise in that regard, somewhat little bit of rising pains, of discovering that comfortable medium for the linear mass-media spectrum. How will we nonetheless be ourselves and get our humor and authenticity throughout, however not cross any traces, and get to some extent the place they’re snug airing our content material. However we nonetheless can have enjoyable on social media. We nonetheless have enjoyable with our content material creators and short-form digital.
How would you characterize the model’s method to searching for viral, earned media?
We love “information jacking,” if you’ll. All of us have entry to means an excessive amount of details about one another and concerning the world, and there is some poop-related incident happening day by day or not less than weekly. We bounce throughout these issues as rapidly as we are able to, ship out care packages to these folks, attempt to drum up some earned media, and all the time attempt to be a related and constant a part of on a regular basis dialog. In a extra deliberate or semi-planned means, we search for areas the place we are able to do lightning strikes, like popping into UFC or the Preakness [horse race].
That grittiness and people one-off lightning strikes won’t ever change. We’re all the time searching for these, and may’t look forward to the following one, no matter which may be. It is a mixture of staying true to our roots with that scrappy stuff and [having] extra constant mass media that we now have the budgeting to do to hit hundreds of thousands of individuals and create constant consciousness on a year-round foundation.
A part of our secret sauce is that individuals are going to speak about us, and the “dudeness” is the magic. We attempt to keep that magic and that reference to folks, and make folks chuckle, get them interested by who we’re and in the end convert. However I am all the time looking out with my group for these alternatives that pique our curiosity and are proper up our alley, [so] we are able to drum up some noise. As a substitute of simply spending just a few promoting {dollars} to create just a few impressions, we need to get ten instances the impressions.
How has the media combine modified as your retail presence has grown?
We’ve got a wholesome commerce funds that is a part of our total advertising and marketing funds, and that goes to assist our large retail companions Amazon, Walmart, Goal, Kroger and Instacart. We play ball for these retailers.
When it comes to media, there is a actually fascinating dynamic happening proper now with linear versus streaming and programmatic, related TV. We’re operating a reasonably sizable take a look at proper now with Amazon, serving their related TV and streaming TV audiences via Prime and different avenues. It is greater CPM, however we’ve somewhat extra management over who the content material is served to. Then we’re additionally going to get some client reporting on the again finish as effectively, and be capable of see some conversion charges, whereas linear, clearly, is sort of a giant black gap.
We’re additionally kicking off an enormous podcast blitz, spending a number of seven figures for the primary time within the lifetime of the corporate. We really feel actually strongly about aligning with totally different podcast hosts which can be very trusted by their listeners. That’s the place folks as of late are selecting to eat their content material.
Linear is all the time going to play its half for the low CPM and the mass attain, and we’re invested closely in it. There isn’t any doubt. However there’s some ancillary {dollars} that we’re enjoying with in these different areas, simply to see if the engagement is somewhat bit higher.
What do you see within the client demographics of a model that has made the phrase “dude” central to the corporate?
We landed on the title Dude Wipes as a result of it is a contagious phrase in American vernacular. We began this, as guys, to enlighten guys that you ought to be cleaner and extra hygienic. We knew that girls would respect it as effectively. We weren’t dumbfounded however very shocked to see some stats a pair years in the past, and it is continued to be constant, that our customers are literally 50% ladies, 50% males. We predict that girls are shopping for them for the family. I believe it goes again to the enjoyable nature of our model, that we’ve not turned them off, they usually assume it is humorous and funky too. Girls are on board with it as effectively.
When it comes to pleasing all people, it is by no means going to occur for those who attempt to be every little thing to all people and nothing to no one. We actually are unapologetically ourselves. We all know there’s going to be haters on the market. There are going to be those that assume it is silly, or we have been on these “unnecessarily gendered merchandise” lists and it actually does not trouble us. We’re all the time going to have these naysayers, which is okay with us.
