Topics: Ryan Reynolds, Mint Mobile, Marketing

Okay… I have massive respect for Ryan Reynolds.

If you know me well, you know about my affinity for rom-coms. Ryan’s been in some of my favorites, such as Just Friends, The Proposal, Deadpool, Definitely Maybe, etc.

This post, however, has nothing to do with Ryan Reynolds rom-coms… I’ll save that for another post (just kidding… I only share my favorite rom-coms with people who won’t insult me for being “too soft” or “emotional”. If you know my favorite rom-com, you should consider it an honor JSYK).

This has everything to do with Ryan Reynolds: The Biznessman.

Ryan Reynolds: Maximum Effort, Always

In interviews, people ask me who I look up to.

I’ll tell them about my family (thanks for not kicking me out of the family yet haha), my professional celebrity crush Aswath Damodaran (my man), and sometimes I’ll throw in the great Charlie Munger. And then I mention someone who surprises them: Ryan Reynolds.

Ryan Reynolds?

Yes. The movie star celebrity bro. Andrew Paxton in The Proposal. Guy in Free Guy. Guy in The Croods. Deadpool in Deadpool and Deadpool 2. He’s the man!

“Oh, it’s just cuz he’s married to Blake Lively”

Well, okay, that’s something I’d certainly love to emulate… I’m about to start working on my boyfriend resume now (it includes my education in dancing, foreign languages, and etiquette, as well as my experience as a chef, house cleaner, poet, wedding officiant, and model)… but it’s actually because of his knack for marketing.

If you follow any of his social media pages, you’ll know that he occasionally shares marketing videos for some of his brands (Mint Mobile, Aviation Gin, etc). I hate advertisements, but his advertisements make me laugh every. single. time. I don’t drink alcohol, but his ads make me want to buy Aviation Gin… lol

In other words… Super Bowl advertisements are “mid”… Ryan Reynolds advertisements are bussin’. You’re welcome.

In fact, Ryan Reynolds is so good at marketing, that he set up an entity to head up his content creation efforts. Or, in their words… “We make films, TV and content for the personal amusement of Ryan Reynolds. We occasionally share them with the public.”

Well, Ryan, you’re not the only one who’s amused by your marketing content…

Freshly Minted Deal (Get It?)

It just so happens that T-Mobile also really likes his marketing… So much so that they decided to acquire Ryan Reynolds’s company, Mint Mobile, for $1.35 billion. That’s enough to fund 12-23 more Deadpool movies! Thanks, T-Mobile!

Here’s a quick background: Mint Mobile is a low-cost cell service provider that is known for its super cheap phone plans: their cheapest is $15/month. Ryan became involved with the company in 2019, acquiring ~25% of the company, and has been aggressively involved in their “strategic marketing efforts” since.

What makes Mint Mobile special?

Two things: 1) It’s cheap and 2) Ryan Reynolds

The Magic of Marketing

Ryan is actively involved in several brands (Mint Mobile, Aviation Gin, Betty Buzz, etc…) and his marketing is cheap (typically via social media) and effective (funny). He doesn’t produce boring (mid) ads like most people; most ads are somewhere between stupid and moronic (especially given how much they cost). Ryan’s commercials are simple, effective, and cheap, and they always make me laugh.

As Ryan Reynolds said himself… “Everything we do is scrappy. It’s fast, it’s inexpensive, character over spectacle.”

While most cell service providers spend billions on marketing and stores, Mint Mobile chooses to limit its spending on advertising to invest in customer support and continued innovation; as a customer, I support this decision. Despite lower ad spending, I’d argue that Mint’s commercials are way more effective than their competitor’s ads.

“Really Drake? Do you actually think you can say that Ryan Reynolds’s marketing is more effective than those produced by industry-leading experts?”

Um… yes. How else can you explain 90,000% revenue growth over 5 years? I’m definitely not the only person who has been influenced by Mint’s marketing.

In fact, Ryan’s marketing is so effective that T-Mobile is keeping him around so that he will continue developing advertisements for Mint Mobile. Typically, large companies will “strategically reduce” the size of “core functions” during acquisitions like these (i.e. they’ll usually fire most of the people in marketing within the target company to realize synergies and create one cohesive marketing strategy across both platforms). T-Mobile actually plans on using Ryan’s marketing strategy across more parts of the wider company post-acquisition, while letting Mint maintain its independent brand. Perhaps this is why 61% of the deal is in stock…

Yes, Ryan’s leveraging his fanbase and celebrity status to promote the company, but Mint wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as it is without his marketing strategy. Now he gets to celebrate a fat profit while watching fake football. Way to go out there and make a difference!

Conclusion

Advertising rarely works on me. I think “data-driven” and “targeted” ads are obvious and ineffective; I’ve grown to avoid them because I know exactly what they’re trying to do.

But Ryan got me…

Did I become a Mint Mobile user because of their ads? Yes.
Did Ryan’s advertising help sell Mint Mobile for $1.35 billion? Yes.
Did Ryan’s advertising help him sell Aviation Gin for $610 million? Yes.

For that, he has my respect (and because I love his rom-coms haha).

Wow… all this really makes you wonder if advertising isn’t all about flooding the market, spending lots of money, and using data and AI to predict people’s reactions to ads. Maybe it’s just about developing funny, quality content… Just a thought…

Till next time…