No Smoke, No Sales

     As a fan of rap and hip-hop and Snoop Dogg himself, when I heard that Snoop Dogg was giving up smoke it grabbed my attention being that smoking weed is a large part of his identity/brand. Seeing this and keeping up with what was going on with Snoop Dogg I then learned that it was a marketing campaign for a company named "Solo Stove."

    This marketing stunt went viral in November of 2023 with Snoop Dogg claiming he was "giving up smoke." When in reality it was just a marketing stunt for Solo Stove. A company that creates more or less smokeless fire pits that are durable and easy to move around. Now that the dust has settled with this marketing ploy, we can see the numbers achieved from this campaign and it turns out that the whole thing was a failure. Solo Brands didn't reach their expected revenue from 2023. They were shy of 2023's total revenue goal by 20 to 40 million dollars.  This marketing campaign definitely brought more eyes to the company, myself included, but didn't entice them to buy their products like they thought it would. When talking about the results of the campaign, Solo Brands' CFO Andrea Tarbox stated "While our unique marketing campaign raised awareness of SOlo Stove to an expanded and new audience of consumers, it did not lead to the sales lift that we had planned, which combined with the increased marketing investments, negatively impacted our EBITDA." (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) 

    https://www.marketingdive.com/news/solo-stove-viral-snoop-dogg-stunt-marketing-fail/705029/

    

    Solo Stove's Value proposition making fire pits more accessible without the inconvenience of smoke.

    While Solo Stove may have become more relevant due to the Snoop Dogg marketing campaign they did not reach the sales they wanted to. Solo Stove is faced with the challenge of recovering from the financial failure of its marketing campaign. They need to find a way to push the publicity they received into possible future sales.

    Solo Stove's problem with this marketing stunt with Snoop Dogg was that they didn't target the right audience. Snoop Dogg brings a lot of eyes but not the right eyes for Solo Stove. Solo Stove should have marketed more towards families, campers, and outdoorsy people rather than get a large name unassociated with those types of activities. When I think of Snoop Dogg, camping and outdoorsy activities don't pop into my head much at all.

    While the marketing campaign was "remarkable" for getting the company's name out there and drawing attention. This was more due to Snoop Dogg rather than them showcasing why you should buy their fire pits and other products. It was unsuccessful in enticing people to buy their products.

    As I mentioned earlier I would have focused on getting someone famous who is more closely associated with camping or something similar. While this wouldn't achieve you as many clicks as the Snoop Dogg campaign, I believe it would attain you more sales as a company because people who watch or keep up with that celebrity are already more likely to buy a Solo Stove than the average person who knows about Snoop Dogg. 

    What this marketing failure taught me was publicity doesn't equate to more sales.