In the midst of training for his fight with Mike Tyson, influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul doesn’t have time to buy his own deodorant. While this task is usually often left to his assistant, Paul made a rare trip to CVS about a year ago that did more than just freshen up his boxes: It changed the course of his career.
“I look at the shelves and think: How do Ax and Old Spice still have 16 feet of shelf space and are still the only products available?” Paul told Luck. “This aisle looks the same as when I was literally eight years old when I bought my first Ax body spray.”
If it detailed list of scandals and controversies is there any indication that Paul considers himself a “disruptor” and is carrying those intentions into his foray into consumer products: the 27-year-old has just launched his personal care brand W, a collection of deodorants, body sprays and body wash. available at 3,900 Walmart locations. In August, W will continue to expand by introducing 2-in-1 soap, hair gel, shampoo and conditioner. It will also expand its presence to 4,300 Walmart locations.
The W brand, aimed at Gen Z men, does not contain parabens, a cosmetic preservative that some people use. breast cancer related– but rather, additional vitamins designed to attract the attention of the younger generation to taking care of their health.
Paul, of course, was not known for taking care of himself. He is known to some as an up-and-coming boxer, or at least the guy who hopes to knock out 57-year-old Mike Tyson in the ring later this year. To others, Paul is a former Vine star, Disney actor, and pioneer YouTube – Notorious content house Team 10, which has gained him 47 million subscribers on YouTube and Instagram over the past decade.
But for the young entrepreneur, his new W brand is less about creating a hygiene empire and more about establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with – not just in the ring, but in the business world. Aware of the contradictions and career turns that have left him with a complex legacy, Paul views his soap and deodorant as a blank slate.
“It’s really just evidence of 1,000 previous failures,” he said.
“Winner” mentality
W, backed by venture capital firm Anti Fund, is a testament to Paul’s career perseverance as well as his boxing record nine wins and one loss. It’s also a nod to popular Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang, with Twitch streamers asking viewers to type “W” in chat after winning.
“It’s just crazy to me that the brand has never been built around winning or just winning in general,” Paul said.
But the way he uses online slang fits his vision for the up-and-coming company’s success: abandoning traditional business in exchange for a range of products that Paul really cares about.
“These are 60-year-old CEOs trying to create products for growth and profit and reporting to their boards of directors. And they’ve just learned to look at spreadsheets rather than keep their finger on the pulse of what’s going on,” Paul said. “This is a brand created by me. This is my idea; I came up with everything – practically the name, right down to the category, right down to the strategies. This is from the bottom of my heart.”
Paul is the founder of the brand, and W’s CEO is Woody Hillard, who has worked with celebrities such as Kris Jenner on their own consumer brands. He said Luck Paul’s passion is what will drive W to success.
“What really excited me about creating this brand with Jake was that it felt so authentic and there was a clear need in the category,” Hillard said. “Jake didn’t want to start another alcohol brand, energy drink brand or clothing brand.”
Paul’s authenticity extends to his own handling of his past failures, including his idea for a social network called “Locker Room” that separated users by gender, creating an in-app interaction platform for boys only and girls only. The site was downloaded only 500 times, and Paul soon abandoned the idea.
Although he talks about boxing rival Tyson ahead of his Nov. 15 match, Paul draws on Tyson’s wisdom: “You only lose if you quit.” For a guy with a career on the rise after falling off his feet, Paul has internalized the same message in every aspect of his life.
“You have to go through those moments when you lose money, your idea is not as good as you thought,” he said. “That’s what makes you in the long run.”
Against all odds
Paul’s brand may promise a massive deal with Walmart and a massive following, but he’s far from the first content creator to launch a consumer brand.
“Content creators or celebrities in general think this is just a free money grab,” said Jeffrey Wu, co-founder of the Anti Fund. Luck.
According to Amanda Russell, marketing consultant and author of “In some ways, celebrities do have an advantage over the competition in the consumer products industry.” The Influencer Code: How to Unleash the Power of Influencer Marketing. In such a saturated industry, having a built-in audience and emotional connection with the person behind the product is a real advantage for brands.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult for brands to break through,” Russell said. Luck. “Right now, everything is a product unless consumers have a connection to the product. People don’t really resonate with brands; they resonate with people.”
While celebrity brands often have an edge by breaking through the noise, they often come back down to earth quickly after their meteoric rise. Sometimes businesses have problems scaling; in other cases, it cannot produce enough content to maintain relevance to its target audience of mostly young people who tend to quickly outgrow and lose brands.
Paul need look no further than his older brother Logan, who launched his Prime energy drinks in 2022 with boxer KSI, which generated $250 million in sales in its first year, only for the drink to start collecting dust on the shelves of Tesco stores in Great Britain. one year later. In April, the company was hit with a lawsuit alleging the product contained “perpetual chemicals” and more caffeine than stated on the label.
Hillard said W took steps to avoid that outcome. Paul is the face of the brand, but you won’t find his name on the logo. He’s just a guy who wears deodorant and understands that others in his Gen Z cohort want personal care products that are affordable and labeled as good for you.
“Our goal is to really start creating cultural moments with the brand that will truly resonate with the consumer so that they can sustain themselves,” Hillard said.
Bitter truth
Paul’s business is complicated by his own reputation. In addition to sexual assault allegations (which he denied), using racial slurs in old YouTube videos, and throwing raucous parties in the middle of a pandemic, Paul has real baggage associated with his past ventures. He launched an online platform Adfluence in 2018 as a series of training videos on how to successfully become an influencer. Users paid $7 to unlock the video, but instead found only a few video previews. Users then had to pay an additional $57 to unlock all videos. In March 2023 he paid $400,000 SEC fee for promoting an alleged cryptocurrency scam.
But Paul shrugged off the scrutiny and criticism.
“When you do something amazing, everyone will try to stop you,” he said.
Paul is not bragging or bravado, as can sometimes appear on social media: he is advocating closure gender pay gap in boxingco-founded a company that helps find young female boxers, and founded another initiative to help young people instill confidence and leadership skills through the sport.
For Paul, the buzz surrounding his personal brand and venture capital firm hasn’t hurt his business; if anything, it kept him relevant and perhaps even helped him.
“Content is king these days,” Paul said. “The most important thing is attention, marketing and fame.”
Russell is not surprised by Paul’s reaction to his own contradiction. The adage “all press is good press” depends on the context, she said, but maintaining consistent messaging, even if it alienates some fans, helps maintain a strong brand.
“The more you stand for something, the more of a cult following you develop,” she said.
Paul definitely ticks the box when he stands for something. He calls himself a “realistic role model”, avoiding being a people pleaser. He claimed that everyone makes mistakes and he just made them in the public eye.
“Personally, I don’t consider myself controversial. I tell the truth, and people in today’s world don’t like the truth because the truth hurts,” Paul said. “I’ve never been afraid to ruffle feathers or say what’s on my mind.”
Although third highest paid content creator with earnings of $38 million in 2023, Paul uses his past failures as justification for an underdog narrative. Victories are always sweeter after a hard battle, and Paul is not afraid to fail.
“At the end of the day, I’m a guy from Ohio with huge ambitions,” he said. “And he was destined to change the world.”