The Great Yeti Thready

[Grant Lamontagne]

In the beginning I didn't want one of those silly overpriced fashion accessories.  I wasn't going to pay $40 for a fancy coffee mug when my $10 Thermos did almost everything I wanted it to.

But almost wasn't good enough, so I bought another ten dollar Thermos, and then a $15 Thermos and then another ten dollar Thermos.

I still refused to buy one of those things that were obviously designed for the Ugg boot wearing sorority girls that live on Instagram, TikTok, Schmoople and Gaffleplook (or whatever these damned things are called).

Then a few years ago my brother in law got me this black Yeti Rambler for Christmas and I have been hooked ever since.

This is my first Yeti, and as you can see, it has some mileage on it.  The black sticker coating has some holes in it but that hasn't stopped me from using this thing every day.  It has managed to avoid some dents, although I am not sure how.  It has fallen out of the Jeep and onto the street where it rolled down the hill a few times, and I haven't so much as lost the fancy magneto-doodad on the lid.  It goes in the dishwasher every night after work and gets fished out in the morning, ready to be filled with hot chocolate for the coming day.

And it's a Hell of a lot tougher than it looks.

In this thread I will (eventually) go through some of the other Yeti products that have made their way into my home since then, and in the meantime I invite you all to show me yours too.

Def

[powernoodle]

So how exactly is the Yeti better than the Thermos or other brands?  Dent avoidance, or does it go beyond that?   #inquiringminds   

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well, for the coffee mugs, I don’t know.

I’ve never had a high quality coffee mug since I don’t drink coffee, and I will say that most of my Thermos (Thermii?) models do have dents.  So there is some potential for thicker/stronger steel, but I don’t know if that’s a brand thing or a cheap vs premium thing.

I don’t think dents really affect its ability to keep your beverages warm, but I will say that this Yeti keeps my hot chocolate toasty for hours despite significant sub zero temperatures outside.

So I can’t compare it really, but I will say it works.

As for the coolers, they are indeed pretty amazing- although I don’t have one of those either.  I have handled a number of them and they really don’t have anything special over a regular cooler like the Coleman ones I usually use.  It just has a lot more of it- the walls are much thicker and with a lot more insulation, so the Yeti coolers are able to keep things cool a lot longer than a similar sized Coleman.

That having been said, given comparable exterior dimensions, a Yeti will have around 50-60% of the interior capacity because the walls are so thick.

If you need things to stay colder longer (like an extended camping trip) then spend $500 on a Yeti cooler.

If you need things to stay reasonably cold for a day or two, or will have the ability to get more ice to refresh it every day or two, spend $50 on a Coleman and $450 on ice.

Def

[powernoodle]

Yeah I guess I should have said tumbler rather than mug.  Since I have worked from home for 34 years, I don't use either.   

I do take matcha tea or hibiscus tea with me when I am out and about - at room temperature - and like the Nalgene On the Go 24 oz. bottles, because they fit in my church backpack and car holder, and are 100% leakproof.  That last one is a big feature.  But they have basically zero insulation, so that's an entirely different category.

Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/2ad97brs

"Project Farm" on Youtube has tested insulated tumblers, for those have nothing better to do.   

[Grant Lamontagne]

Since it appears that I am the only sorority girl here, I guess it's up to me to keep this thread going.   

Here is my ugly mug with the same black Rambler from the previous post, and my latest Yeti, the exact same thing but in a different color.

This is the third of these Ramblers I own, but my second one in olive drab seems to have gone missing.  Megan often borrows them to take coffee to the office and they stay in her car until I find them later on and bring them in the house to wash and re-use.  Sometimes my black one, aka my regular go to one doesn't get into the dishwasher overnight, so I like to have a backup and so I got this pretty green one. 

The color is suitable for Megan and also obvious enough that it hopefully won't get lost like my olive drab one did.

My olive one (which I will post when and if it gets found) was an interesting one in that it had a very mild quality control issue- I think there was a loose piece of scrap metal side it and you could hear it "ringing" inside whenever you moved the Rambler around.  I had thought of sending it in as a warranty thing but soon decided that it didn't affect the way the Rambler worked, and I kind of liked having the one monkey that fell out of the tree.

Also, I am so thrilled with these Rambers that for Christmas this year I bought a Rescue Red one for my brother (it matches his new motorcycle), a pink one for my sister in law and a blue mug (the current bright blue color is really nice) for my father because he likes to drink tea.  he likes very large tea mugs because it stays hotter longer, but at 83 years old his hands don't hold giant ass mugs like they used to.  I figured this insulated mug would give him the opportunity to drink it hot longer while also being more managably sized.

There's more coming....  just let me get my Uggs on....   

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

That’s my everyday Yeti,,
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

That’s my everyday Yeti, I added a special top,,
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Idk what I’m doing, err..
JR

[Grant Lamontagne]

Knowing what you are doing is highly overrated.

I haven’t had a clue of what I was doing for decades and I’m having a blast. 

Nice looking Yeti water bottle! 

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

Knowing what you are doing is highly overrated.

I haven’t had a clue of what I was doing for decades and I’m having a blast. 

Nice looking Yeti water bottle! 

Def

Knowing what your doing is one thing, in my case it’s “what the heck did I just do” that drives me nuts, just yesterday I had 4 seizures and I was nuts, heck today I couldn’t figure out what we were doing for lunch and dinner, I kept forgetting it just after remember 5min, ,, just nuts! But as far as that yeti, I love it especially the top I put on it, cause you can open it and drink from any side, it’s not “theirs” but an imitation of theirs,, just cheaper..
JR

[Antti Lammi]

I have thought to buy one to myself but long as my Airam thermos mug is still working i hesitate to buy Yeti.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have thought to buy one to myself but long as my Airam thermos mug is still working i hesitate to buy Yeti.

I absolutely understand.  If you have something that works for you, why mess around?   

In response to JR's post about water bottles, here is a less than exciting photo of Yeti's in the dishwasher!

Megan's turquoise Yeti straw mug is in the foreground, my larger dark blue Yeti straw mug is on the left, the white one is a Stanley straw mug and if you look closely you will also see the black Rambler that is in all of my other posts in behind my blue straw mug.

We have two Yeti straw mugs and two Stanley ones so we always have a clean water mug on each side of the bed. 

Much like the regular Ramblers I didn't see the point of having a Yeti water mug but Megan got one during the pandemic and then I bought her the Stanley ones because they were all the rage at one point.... then while visiting my father last year we ended up in an outdoors shop where I saw the blue straw mug in the latest color and I absolutely had to have it.

For those keeping track, my straw mug color is called Agave Teal, and it's a color that I have a weird history with.  I remember having a crayon as a kid that was pretty well that exact color and I always hated it, and could never imagine anyone using it for anything.  Then I went a great many years without seeing the color anywhere and then VW started using it on certain Golf models and I absolutely loved it.  I don't know what changed (at least in regards to color preferences!) since I was a kid, but as soon as I saw this color on a Yeti the only hesitation in my mind was which model Yeti to buy.  Initilly I had grabbed one the same size as Megan's (which is not small n the least) but the sales guy said "Have you seen the bigger one?"

Next thing I know I had the bigger one in my hand as I gleefully ran towards the cashier, hoping my father didn't see the price tag.   

If you look closely along the top of the pic you will see the base of Megan's turquoise Rambler (it's a smaller one than the others) on top of the dishwasher.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

I saw this on FB and thought I'd share.  It's interesting how they got started, deciding to reinvent something that already exists.

How do you get people to pay $300 for something that used to cost $30?

YETI figured it out and built a $2.6 BILLION empire selling... plastic boxes.

In 2006, two frustrated fishermen noticed something insane:

People spent $50,000+ on fishing boats but used $30 coolers that constantly broke.

The contrast was pretty massive.

Premium boats with garbage coolers?

The Seiders brothers made a counterintuitive bet that changed everything:

People would gladly pay $300+ (10X the competition!) for a cooler if it was virtually indestructible.

Every retailer told them this was crazy.

It turned out those retailers couldn’t have been more wrong.

Here's some of the psychology and strategies behind how they built a $2.6B empire:

1️⃣ They created a new category ("premium coolers") instead of competing in an existing one.

This category creation eliminated direct competition and allowed them to establish the rules and price anchors for an entirely new market.

2️⃣ They used extreme demonstrations instead of boring specs.

Videos of bears attacking coolers, trucks driving over them, and coolers being dropped from cliffs created a powerful vividness effect.

These demonstrations formed stronger mental impressions than any spec sheet ever could.

3️⃣ They built a documentary content strategy that barely mentioned products.

Their films tell authentic outdoor stories that create emotional connections without sales pitches.

This narrative transportation makes viewers associate the positive feelings with YETI.

4️⃣ They selected authentic experts over celebrities.

Instead of paying random celebrities, they partnered with fishing guides, hunters and outdoor experts who were ALREADY using their products.

This created genuine credibility that money can't buy.

5️⃣ They maintained strict pricing discipline.

Their rigorous MAP policies and minimal use of deals/discounts protects value perception and minimize buyer's remorse.

When customers see consistent pricing, it reinforces they made the right decision.

The Seiders brothers' bet paid off in a huge way for them:

📈 $1.83B annual revenue
📈 58.1% gross margins
📈 $2.66B market cap
📈 70% revenue from products that didn't exist 10 years ago
📈 Sales growth from $5M in 2009 to $1.83B

Here’s some of the ways you can use these lessons from Yeti in your marketing:

1. Find contrast opportunities where consumers buy premium in one category but budget in a related one.
2. Create a new category instead of competing in an existing one.
3. Use dramatic demonstrations not boring specs.
4. Select authentic ambassadors not just celebrities.
5. Rarely discount to maintain value perception.
6. Build content that tells stories without pitching products.

What other brands have used clever marketing psychology to make you happily pay premium prices?

I feel like this is the direction that Leatherman has been trying to go in lately.

Def