Created in 2020, founder Brock Mammoser, together with his brother Mitch, has led Frost Buddy to the #3 Thermocooler on the Amazon marketplace in its first four months an 8-figure business in less than 12 months, and $30M in sales in 2 years. Through an innovative marketing strategy, utilizing viral videos, Mammoser has garnered millions of followers, likes, and views, showcasing Frost Buddy’s unique and creative designs. When I asked Mammoser how he built this impressive brand, the first word he brought up was consistency. The conversation flowed from advertising to product quality, before finishing on expectations and perseverance. However, Mammoser’s original mention of consistency seemed to permeate under the surface of each topic. Resiliency, excellence, and innovation are words I could use to describe Mammoser’s approach to the various areas of his business, but it’s his dedication to all these aspects that made me circle back to his own choice of consistency.
“You’re always on my mind” -Willie Nelson
First, with his advertising, Mammoser said there must be a consistent push on marketing. Staying top of mind was crucial to earn initial and repeat sales with customers coupled with developing an engaging brand with high visibility was his strategy. Continually improving Frost Buddy’s Facebook and Google ads were one angle of attack. Utilizing automatic emails to reach out to customers and subscribers was another method for holding attention. However, the best and most unique tactic Mammoser employed was viral Tik Tok videos, often creating successful and engaging content with just a phone and a $20 tripod. At times he has been able to use footage from his personal podcast as the basis for a fun and relevant commercial for Frost Buddy. Mammoser has also discovered that releasing limited edition designs, in the form of “Buddy of the week”, was a good way to generate interest and sales. The concept of manufactured urgency appealed to the customer's desire to not miss out on something rare and exclusive.
In his own words,
“There’s a hundred. They’re limited, and they’re never coming back.”
The first few runs started very slow, but each week saw consistent growth in the volume and speed of sales. Runs now typically get sold out within a couple of hours, and very good designs last less than 60 minutes. The consistent effort Mammoser has placed on marketing and innovation has kept Frost Buddy a fresh brand that doesn’t lose its appeal to customers.
If your customer can depend on it, so can you.
However, marketing is only half of Mammoser’s successful business model. He stated,
“You can do all the marketing and all the growth that you want, but at the end of the day if it’s not a great product, that provides a great customer experience and value, it doesn’t matter. Long term, it will catch up and crumple you eventually.”
A reliable, high-quality product is consistent by nature. The manufacturer can depend upon it to satisfy the needs of the customer, time and time again. It must be consistently good enough for customers to be proud of it. It must consistently keep drinks hot or cold. Its different designs must be consistently good enough to impress people that see it. This is the foundation to build any lasting business. Without a legacy of value, a brand’s reputation will suffer, and no amount of good press or spin will save it.
In Mammoser’s own words,
“If we didn’t have a product that people liked to talk about, people liked to show their friends and show their family, if we didn’t have that product that had the viral sense to it, just because of how unique it is, how different it is from competitors, it wouldn’t matter how known we are.”
Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.
In general, Frost Buddy’s success cannot be strictly attributed to just a fine product and excellent marketing. Regardless of the industry, every business is going to face hardships that test the determination of a business’s team.
Mammoser’s final words of wisdom were,
“This (Entrepreneurship) is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes a long time. It takes a lot of grinding. Deals take a long time to develop. It’s a lot of work.”
Entrepreneurs must have a consistent level of drive and determination. It’s an infinite struggle to keep a business successful, and it’s easy for people to get comfortable or complacent. Mammoser believed that a lot of people, himself included, fabricate some type of finish line that they need to reach. A hard lesson to grasp and also very true, however, reality has also shown him and many others that although you can work at the pace and intensity you desire, the business world will not allow you to coast once you hit some type of milestone. In his case, with the challenging DTC market, he’s pushing Frost Buddy into retail spaces, rather than remaining solely in the space that he has shined.
His advice was
“Fail as fast and often as you can. You’re going to get hit hard and fast. Take the punches quick, learn quick, and adapt. Your business can survive as long as you hold out, and you’ll hit your stride and investments will start to pay off.”
Having a consistent source of strength and grit will carry any business through its hard times.
In a chaotic world, be your own source of stability.
Mammoser’s consistency has made Frost Buddy a thriving, growing, and adaptable business. He consistently gets his product into the minds of customers, with a strong presence on social media. He consistently appeals to their desire to feel special, with unique and trendy product designs.
As he stated,
“Customers like to feel unique and they like to feel exclusive. Everyone does.”
He consistently provides superior customer service and value, by providing excellent and effective Thermocoolers, across a wide variety of beverage options, including cans, water bottles, wine bottles, and even pet bowls. This consistency runs much deeper, into the very spirit and attitude Mammoser has brought to Frost Buddy, enabling him and his team to weather the countless storms that his company has faced over the years. He believes that infusing an ideology of consistency into a business model will help ensure that a company is enduring, and long-lasting.