Non-stressed Marketers and large Marketing budgets are two of the most scarce things out there.  It’s once in a blue moon that you stumble across them, but neither are more scarce than today’s focus, consumer attention. And there is one creator who is putting on an absolute clinic on how to capture it. Marketing Bestie meet Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast. MrBeast is the mastermind behind YouTube channels totaling over 200 MILLION subscribers. 200 MILLION. But it’s his recent success stepping outside of the creator sphere and into the world of brand building that has us Marketers dissecting his ascent.
Today’s lesson starts all the way back in 2012… MrBeast was 13 years old, with only 200 subscribers filming videos on anything from gaming clips to estimating YouTuber’s earnings. After years of consistently posting, MrBeast posted a video of him counting to 100,000 and it went VIRAL. The video has over 27M views to date and kickstarted a legendary run on YouTube.
In 2023, MrBeast’s main channel boasts 138M subscribers with videos reaching 1B people per month. To put that in perspective, the 2023 Super Bowl had 113M viewers. MrBeast is capturing more attention than the entire NFL, showing the world the power of creator-led brands.
Towards the end of 2020, MrBeast launched his own fast food chain, MrBeast Burger. To announce the launch, MrBeast took a HUGE risk.  He opened up his first ghost kitchen and gave out free burgers and cash for 24 hours. After opening, there was a 20-mile line of cars eager to get in on the action. The video was a massive success. MrBeast crafted a limited-time-offer that would be silly to turn down. 146M views later MrBeast Burger has opened 1,000+ ghost kitchens and crossed the $100M revenue mark.
Was this his most effective launch? No. Let me introduce you to your new favorite chocolate bar, Feastables. Jumping into a market dominated by legacy brands, Mars and Hershey, is intimidating. 
But MrBeast has something they don’t. The ability to organically capture the attention of hundreds of millions. However it isn’t enough to just have eyeballs and sell something random. There needs to be cohesion. There needs to be a well thought out strategy. There needs to be an escape room. Wait what?
MrBeast announced the launch of Feastables in a video titled “World’s Most Dangerous Escape Room!”  Zero mention of Feastables in the title. It’s not until 4 minutes into the video that MrBeast seamlessly weaves in a promo for his chocolate bars. We see 1,000s of ads each day. We can spot one from a mile away. The best part about the majority of those ads? The “skip ad” button. But not MrBeast’s ad.
The promo didn’t disrupt the video, it moved the plot along. With quick cuts, candid dialogue, and alignment with the overall video, MrBeast kept the viewers watching. This is the perfect example of selling through your content, not selling in your content. But MrBeast didn’t stop there. MrBeast gamified the experience for his customers.
MrBeast placed 10 mystery tickets in the chocolate bars. If customers found the tickets, they would be flown out to compete for a chocolate factory in one of his future videos. Talk about creating viral loops. The mystery tickets are limited, yet have a massive upside, so if consumers want a greater chance of winning they have to buy more chocolate bars…exactly what MrBeast wants.
It’s not all advertising hacks and Marketing strategies, there is an innate advantage of creator-led brands. Creator brands are more intimate, leading to a more trustworthy brand image and consumer loyalty at levels you don’t see with larger brands like Hershey. We’re going to see a huge shift in the near future, and I’m EXCITED.
Daniel Murray
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Daniel Murray
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