Are these any worse than Crocs? Terence strikes thrice (and this time we get to watch)

Remember my two-part series on (1) Crocs and (2) the Stanley Quencher?

And remember how Terence Reilly turned out to be behind both feats of marketing alchemy, where Crocs ended up on Post Malone, and that Stanley cup went viral for keeping a lady's drink ice-cold while her car burned out?

Well, like the same dude is at it again with HEYDUDE.

This is your invite to watch in real-time.

What I'm noticing...

I kept tabs on Reilly after writing about Crocs and Stanley. So when he rejoined Crocs as Brand President for their lesser-known offering 'HEYDUDE', my ears pricked up.

Especially because HEYDUDE's shoes looked... well, let's just say that if this were a marketing video game, Terence doesn't like to play on easy mode.

The same playbook?

At Crocs and Stanley, Reilly parachuted in early to do two things:

• Notice where the product was inadvertently resonating in a divergent niche
• Amplify the heck out of it, even at the expense of the original audience

This time around, I think they're creating the conditions for a 'surprising takeoff' by maxing out on unlikely collaborations under a brand that is fully bought into the experiment from the get-go.

I expect Stanley execs needed some convincing to pivot the Quencher from truckers to office queens...

Lewis Capaldi. Coca Cola. TMNT. Harry Potter. Wicked. Back to the Future. Even Furby.

It's the breadth that's striking.

For context, HEYDUDE isn't new; they've been around since 2008. This isn't a zero-to-one situation...

If you heard of HEYDUDE before this article, you're probably the subject of an active experiment.

I don't think they've found the play... yet.

So it should be fun to watch.

And remember, this is ProblemKit

I maintain that even fashion solves a problem for its 'users'... but the problem HEYDUDE will solve, and in which pocket of culture, is yet to be sealed in fate.

⚡️ (Where) will lightning strike thrice?