Wemby, Barcode and The Consumer Startup Gameplan
Welcome to The New Game where we break down the latest trends in the athlete’s economy.
This week we’re analyzing how consumer startups are adapting in the era of creator-led brands by diving into Barcode’s innovative partnership with Wemby.
Let’s connect on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.
Kirby Porter
💡Big Idea: Creators Disrupting the CPG Startup Landscape
The competitive landscape for CPG startups grows more complex by the day.
In addition to the usual challenges that come with taking on incumbents, there is now increasing competition from creator-founded brands.
More YouTube snd TikTok giants are opting to launch their own products with the goal of maximizing their earnings and ownership.
As the market of creator-founded CPG startups grows, we can imagine that there are a few paths ahead.
🐂 The bull case for creator founded brands is that: Creators become the future of brands.
In an age where people follow people over logos, creator-brands have a powerful marketing and distribution advantage via the built in community of loyal followers that are eager to support and promote their products.
🐻 The bear case for creator founded brands is that: This is a moment in time .
While creators do have a marketing & distribution advantage, it won’t be for long. Due to key-man risk and lack of operational expertise, creator-founded brands will experience a quick rise and fall.
🐂🐻 Or a hybrid scenario: Creators change what the future of brand building looks like for all levels of companies.
Creator-founded branded will have their place, but they won’t be alone.
Startups and incumbents will adopt the ethos of the creator model into their operations in order to compete in the new age.
⬇️ Let’s take a look at how Barcode, a next-generation hydration drink, is getting right with athletes.
🧃Barcode: Next Generation Performance Beverage
Barcode is a performance beverage “developed by experts, vetted by the pros, made for the everyday consumer” (via Barcode).
While the company launched in 2020, Co-Founder Bar Malik had been developing the expertise to create the first plant based, all natural performance beverage, years prior.
As the Head Performance coach across organizations like the Knicks and Lakers, Malik combined his formal training in sports science with hands on experience in keeping top performers on their game.
“With all the knowledge I acquired through research, spending time with founders at other brands, advising companies like Ladder, I just felt people were dropping the ball with products that resonate with true performance. I felt like I could be of more value to the world if I came out of sports and just served the people on a bigger scale.”
Bar Malik, Co-Founder of Barcode via Muscle & Fitness
After developing the initial prototypes of Barcode, Malik began to test the product on athletes in his network, including his eventual Co-Founder and NBA Champion, Kyle Kuzma.
Malik and Kuzma have their eyes set on building an “iconic brand that will take on the better-for-you category” (via Nutrition Insight).
This vision is manifested in the company’s brand and marketing strategy:
Brand Story: Barcode believes that “each person is born with a code.” From the name, to packaging and storytelling — Barcode is celebrating the individuality of trailblazers.
Social Forward: With talent-founded origins, social has been a key driver of Barcode’s growth. As Malik shares, Barcode has a unique and organic ability to get “influencers, bloggers, athletes, and founder to post about [Barcode].”
Innovative Consumer Experience: Barcode’s packaging is not only a logo, but also a digital filter that users can scan to reveal information about the product today and in the future unlock immersive performance experiences.
Talent Strategy: Barcode has an impressive list of talent involved as investors and brand partners, but their most recent partnership with Wemby is evolving their model.
🏀 Wemby: The New Face of Barcode
Wemby is the face of a new generation of basketball and Barcode.
This summer the company welcomed the No. 1 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft as an investor and brand partner.
Wemby’s involvement with Barcode will span contributing towards R&D on future products and serving as the leading face of the brand across digital, out-of-home and in-store advertising.
The partnership with Barcode allows me not only to be a spokesmodel but a role model. I want to be elite, on and off the court, and want my body to be the healthiest it has ever been. That’s why I chose Barcode over anything else.
Victor Wembanyama
From an investor standpoint, Wemby will join a strong roster of athlete-investors including Carmelo Anthony, Gervonta Davis, Jordan Clarkson, Lexie Brown and more.
From a marketing standpoint, Barcode and Wemby are forming the advantages of creator-founded brands within Barcode.
👀 What to Watch: CPG Startups Adapting with Athletes
The real marketing advantage of creator-founded brands is that they have a face of the brand:
Emma Chamberlain is the face of Chamberlain Coffee
Mr. Beast is the face of Feastables
KSI and Logan Paul are the faces of PRIME
So on, so forth.
The faces are strengthened by the years that a creator spends developing original content for a highly engaged fan base.
How can CPG startups that are not founded by creators adapt?
By deepening their partnership model with mission aligned athletes from brand partner → face of the brand.
As Barcode shows, this works especially well with once-in-a-generation level talent.
But across different sectors of consumer, startups have the opportunity to partner with athletes that have creator-level strength of brand.
🫂 That’s a Wrap
Thank you for reading!
As always, let’s connect on LinkedIn to continue the conversation!
Kirby