Get Bombed: Beer Pong Business Leads to Book Deal & 1.5 Million Downloads

The following is a guest post by Benjamin Leis, who is the Founder of Blizz Marketing & Media Relations that runs The Campus Buzz, #CollegeJourn, and Big Brand on Campus.

The Growth of a Simple College Game to a Serious Sport Gives Rise to Big Business.

For many college students across the country beer pong is all fun and games, but for two Connecticut entrepreneurs it's taken a bit more seriously. Dan DiSorbo and Porter McKinnon have managed to combine their love for beer pong with their business acumen, and translate it into dollar signs seemingly overnight.

By day, DiSorbo and McKinnon are Principals at the independent creative firm, PB&J Design, Inc. PB&J is a full-service creative studio and consultancy specializing in identity branding, product development, art direction and package design. Having the extensive experience in creating brands and launching new products for some well-known clients, PB&J decided to apply this knowledge to a fun project of their own.

In the fall of 2003, DiSorbo, a recent college graduate at the time, knew there was a burgeoning market for beer pong enthusiasts and wanted to develop a line of products specifically for Beer Pong players.

“There was nothing out there geared specifically towards beer pong players,” said DiSorbo, “I just had the gut feeling that beer pong was set to take off and I just wanted to get on board.”

After collaborating with the team at PB&J, they decided that this crazy idea might actually work. Sliding, spilling, clean up and refilling, these were the beer pong problems that needed a cure-all solution to which PB&J came up with their first answer– an innovative cup racking system. In their mind, "The Rack" would speed up game play, eliminate messiness, provide uniformity and ultimately, be easily packaged and marketed.

“We have always provided product development, packaging and brand services to our clients,” said McKinnon, “so we figured why not take our expertise and apply it to one of our own ideas.”

In their spare time, PB&J created the brand and developed the product line known as BOMBED Beer Pong. The process of taking an idea and turning it into a viable product was no easy task. It took PB&J about 6 months of design, research and development to get it right. According to McKinnon, “We actually bartered our design services to manufacture the first few prototypes for ‘The Rack’. Since we designed, did all the research and development and packaged it all ourselves, there was little up front cost to get it off the ground.”

PB&J displayed the final BOMBED Beer Pong Kit at a major sporting goods and licensing trade show in Orlando, FL that they attended with one their clients. Within minutes, the ubiquitous mall establishment, Spencer's Gifts came by and bought it on the spot. And the rest as they say, was history. In 2005, it became one of Spencer Gifts best selling products moving over 20,000 units after just 6 months of being on the market.

Their keen awareness that no business is successful without the ability to generate a recurring revenue stream, PB&J has since set up multiple sales channels, an outside sales force, strategic relationships with wholesalers and distributors and a licensing division. Through this multi-layered sales approach, their executive team has significantly reduced the time requirement associated with a start-up business allowing themselves to concentrate their efforts on enhancing their existing relationships, adapting their products to better meet consumer demands and securing lucrative licensing and publishing agreements.

Once the brand proved successful and became a recognized fixture in the beer pong community, BOMBED expanded its product line to include portable beer pong tables, Official Beer Pong balls and cups, as well as licensed products that include the iconic ZIPPO lighter, a poster series, an apparel line, and most recently a lucrative publishing deal with Chronicle Books to author and illustrate The Book of Beer Pong: The Official Guide to the Sport of Champions, due out in August 2009.

“Licensing is one of the most powerful contemporary forms of marketing and brand extension.” DiSorbo said “It has allowed us to quickly and successfully expand our line of products by collaborating with industry leaders and has provided us with enormous strategic, marketing and earning benefits.”

McKinnon and DiSorbo, have developed a business model that requires minimal overhead expenditures, a small marketing budget and cost competitive manufacturing prices. As a start-up, the company has been able to minimize the costs associated with the infrastructure of a traditional business (e.g. computers, equipment, office/storage space, etc) as well as advertising and marketing expenses due their design firm, PB&J Design, Inc., already absorbing these expenditures. McKinnon and Disorbo are now seeking capital infusion to reduce their production costs through the procurement of volume discounts and increase their marketing efforts as they look to keep up with the growth of beer pong enthusiasts and solidify their status as the premier beer pong business.

“We’re excited about the future. ‘The Rack’ Kit has nearly tripled in sales since it’s inception and our portable tables are selling out with every new shipment.” said DiSorbo “With The Book of Beer Pong coming out this summer and the new iphone/ipod touch game we just launched in February, the reaction has been truly amazing. We’ve already had over 1.5 million downloads through itunes for our free app Beer Pong Challenge, and pre-sales of the book are far exceeding our expectations. Beer Pong has become an original American pastime and is here to stay.”

Today, the full line of BOMBED Beer Pong products have been sold wholesale to national distributors, convenience store chains and specialty retailers including Spencer's Gifts, Urban Outfitters, Musicland and Newbury Comics. The full line is also available on their website at www.getbombed.com.

News Facts

• According to four recent academic studies that surveyed more than 6,000 (college) students nationwide, 50%-80% play beer pong.
• Total college population is 15.6 million which will grow to 18.2 million in 2013
• Discretionary income is nearly $4,500 per year per student

Follow Benjamin Leis on Twitter. Email Alex at CollegeMogul2@gmail.com if you would like to contribute a guest post.