The Story of Mr. Lid - Creating a Story Around Plastic Storage Containers

Jordan Buckner: [00:00:00] What's up everyone? Excited for today's episode where we're getting into what can on the outside seem like a really boring category of storage containers, but how one brand's journey of revitalizing that and making it a digital product. More interesting, accessible and fun for everyone, but especially younger generations is taken off.

So I've invited on Paul Musaev, who's the CEO of Mr. Lid to come on and they do storage containers with the lid attached. Paul, welcome. 

Pall Musaev: Hey, Jordan. Great to be here. Thanks for having me. 

Jordan Buckner: So tell me a little bit around, like, how you got into this industry and what the kind of impetus was. 

Pall Musaev: Well, I took a bit of a wrong turn at Albuquerque to get here.

I was a tech guy. I've been a tech entrepreneur most of my life. You know, in trying my hand at startups, consulting, I had a very early foray into tech. My, one of my last ventures, I just kind of lost. taste for it. I wanted simple products that were simple to understand. A chance [00:01:00] meeting led me to the owners of Mr. Lid, the container with the lid attached. And after hearing that this product was available, you know, a container with a lid attached, it was so simple to understand. It just struck a light bulb in me and We negotiated for a while, but I ended up purchasing the company in 2023 with the intent to kind of remarket it, rebranded, bring it some life.

I thought it was a great product that needed, you know a story told around it. It was selling, it kept selling, but nobody knew about it. Nobody knew that this great container made in the USA, by the way, it's made, it still is today made in Sussex, Wisconsin is available as an option. And so. I was just so excited to have the opportunity to meet these folks who created this great product and I wanted to breathe some life into it.

Jordan Buckner: I love that. So coming from tech into product, which of course you're like, Hey, this, like having a simple product is easy, right? Probably not so much. Once you actually get into it, as our listeners know, like dealing with imagery, at least. Your containers don't [00:02:00] expire, which is like a whole nother thing for food businesses.

But tell me about kind of what happened day one. You took over the business. What'd you do? 

Pall Musaev: You know what, Jordan? You hit the nail on the head there. I'll admit I came in with a little bit of, okay, I got this. That naivety, I think kind of helped me in a way because, you know, I wasn't kind of constricting myself to some of the norms.

I wasn't really, bound by any sort of guidelines. I wanted to come in this, you know, freewheeling Guns blazing. And I will say one of the biggest mistakes I made early on was underestimating how much it costs to launch a brand. Watch your dollars carefully. That's my biggest advice is, you know, spend them wisely.

That was some of the early mistakes I had made in terms of getting the brand off the ground. But I mean, ultimately our stories are our stories. We own them. I think the best part of the early stages was that again, I was bound by no constraints. My walls were wide and long. I had total freedom when I was looking at this brand and what I wanted to do with it.

The first thing I did though, which I think [00:03:00] anybody launching a brand should do is listen, ask questions. The impetus for me to even consider Mr. Lid was actually born through reading some of the troubles that the Tupperware corporation was facing at the time which quite relevant given the news this week Tupperware had stated something very clearly in one of their earnings reports.

They said they were having a hard time connecting with the younger audience. So container with the lid attached to me, wasn't even compelling enough to bring to market. It wasn't until I read that statement where I said, there is no connection between the younger generation and this company, so I had to go back and say, well, what do they want?

What are their values? are they interested in a container with a lid attached or do they want something more? So when I took Mr. Lid into you know, my ownership and we started with the rebranding, we wanted to make it a fun brand. First things first is we wanted it to resonate on social.

You know, the lid attached spoke to a value that the young generation wanted, which was make my life simpler. Well, come on, man. How do you make it with a container? One of the quickest way we can make it [00:04:00] simpler is keep the lid attached so we don't lose the darn thing. The second one, which we're really kind of leaning into here is the idea that products need to be earth conscious.

And so we looked at Mr. Lid and we said, hold on a second here. so keep in mind, Mr. Lid's been around since 2011. We do this rebrand, we get all these people starting to email us on a weekly basis. Hey, love your brand, been using the product for 10 years. In fact, I still have some of the same containers.

And we had all these passionate customers that would write us with this message. And I'm like, what is going on here? Our, our, like our containers are good, but they're durable. They're tough. When you get one in your hand, they don't feel like a cheap plastic container. And with the lid attached, they have a chance to last longer.

 That's when the vision for the company was born, which is to replace single use containers. So Mr. Lid is on this mission to turn the Liddy, which is our nickname for Mr. Lid, into the on the go container. We're already used to it with shopping bags. We're already used to it with water bottles. Why is it when we go up for lunch or dinner and we want some takeout, we take a [00:05:00] piece of garbage home with us?

If young consumers want reusable, earth friendly products, we got the thing just for them, man. Plastic containers are everywhere. Paper containers are everywhere. We're trying to make an impact and say, you know what, we can turn this into the cool, hot product. You know, branded, collaborations, different colors, designs.

I think we can get young people to say, you know what, I'm going out for lunch and take my lady with me. I don't want to take no garbage home. 

Jordan Buckner: I love that. I think that makes a big impact, especially as you mentioned, really understanding what story there is, because if you think about it, right? Like storage containers are a commodity at this point for the most part, right?

Even the name Tupperware synonymous, kind of like a climax where like people use it to refer to you. And I like your approach in terms of how do you differentiate and add, not just a product differentiation, which I think is, you know, clear in there, but then also telling that story around convenience, around long lasting and the effect on sustainability to really resonate and the fact that you started by listening to, Existing customers [00:06:00] and like what they were talking about, what they were sharing, I think makes a huge difference because that's the fastest way to build a successful business I find is like, well, listen to what people actually want, right?

Like not what necessarily you want them to do, but like, listen to like the words that they're saying and how they're thinking about how they're using it to create those differentiators. 

Pall Musaev: I agree. And sometimes it's not that easy. You know, sometimes we have to kind of. Really be creative when we're listening and saying, look, this is what sometimes we listen to the frustrations and we got to come be creative in our solution.

I was lucky here that Mr. Lid has been around. It has, you know, tenure in the market. it's proven, it's, you know, it's been tried, tested and true for over a decade. I was really lucky that this product was around. I just think what happened was it wasn't marketed at the right time in the right way.

It was sold as a container competing against containers. What it needed to do is speak to the customer and that's not meant to be a criticism to anyone. It's just, I think, The consumer too, 10 years ago, wasn't necessarily [00:07:00] looking for a solution to this problem, you know, COVID, the introduction of containers everywhere, it kind of like was in our face that, Oh my, like, I don't know about you, but every time I order through delivery service, I feel like a jerk when I have to throw out, you know, I get four containers, you know, in this bag just to feed me cause I'm too busy.

That's life these days. There's no getting around it, but there's got to be a better solution to these little pieces of garbage we're, you know, transferring around. 

Jordan Buckner: Well, what I love as well, as you've been able to take , that messaging and make it really clear on your website, I love just the headlines of everything there, right?

Like never lose. It's a plastic container with a lid on top. Like it's so easy to understand and to see , that benefit. That makes a huge difference. I bet too, like even some of your bundles are like under 50 bucks, right? For some of the more, the most expensive thing that's on the site. And I think that makes a huge difference in terms of the price point being there, the story there, the value proposition.

And then you can just make it fun on top of that really to get the attention and draw people in. [00:08:00] What were some of the challenges in that storytelling. Did you find that that was, that messaging was resonating that you try anything that you thought might work, but didn't were some of the lessons learned.

Some of the lessons learned was that there is, if you want to instill change, you don't do it through guilt or beating people up. You don't, I like the negative, you create a positive solution. So. You know, the biggest challenge we faced, and we still face Jordan is we're a plastic product. Can a plastic product solve the plastic problem?

That's the question we face in every room we walk into. It's like, Oh, there's the bad guy. And so one of the things we really want to do is not compare materials. I don't care if you're aluminum glass, plastic paper, we all have a place here. We all have to do our best. We We're not better than, we're just different.

Our whole emphasis is that, bro, whether you're made of glass, aluminum, paper, and you believe in recycling, that's great. We focus on reusability. The less we can put products in blue bins where diesel trucks have to come pick them up, process them, [00:09:00] drive them again to a new facility to process them, to get on a new truck.

All we're saying is, let's keep these products in use for longer. we don't have any advocacy towards a certain type of material. I can't say specific details, but I will tell you this, there is nothing in our company that states we are a plastic based company. We are a home organization company.

We are about to launch a product with an alternative material, which I think it will get the market very excited and speaks to our earth consciousness. There is also nothing saying that Lidd can't make a containers out of other materials. So while we have a plastic product today. You know, our biggest challenge is the fact that we are plastic and, you know, we're trying to earn a right to be in this conversation and say, Hey guys, look, we get it.

We don't like waste either. So here's what we're trying to do about it. 

Yeah, and I think that messaging of directly going against single use plastic acknowledges as well that like, we're plastic, but this can last 10 years, especially, you know, depending on how you're using embedding, you know, if you're [00:10:00] microwaving it over and over again, it might have a little less shelf life versus using it as storage or refrigerator.

But yeah, regardless, it's infinitely more, a lot more than those throwaway ones. I'm curious to hear your take on the Tupperware bankruptcy. I know you did a little bit of looking, you know, previously into their annual filings. But what's your take on kind of what happened with that business or other businesses like them?

Pall Musaev: I mean, Tupperware being a public company there, the news is not totally surprising. You know, they fell victim to some of the meme stock trades and, you know, there, there was concerns about Tupperware's debt issues, management issues, concerns about the direct to marketing whether that is still a viable or functional business or sales methodology for them.

I think ultimately the thing we leaned, like we learned from the Tupperware story was, I mean, Tupperware so rich in history, , they were a pivotal brand when they launched and for decades, you know, there's nothing to criticize there. I think the story for us and my take on it is keep up with the times, you know speak to [00:11:00] your customer.

I find similar to what happened when the worldwide web introduced a lot of companies and big companies, they took their brochure, they found a web guy and they said, Hey, can you make us a website? Here's our brochure. They took the brochure and put it online and the tech guys are screaming, guys, no, no, no, there's new features on this medium that we can, you know, enable like forms and like, there's more dynamic content we can present.

and so big companies kind of fell behind and social media comes along now. Big brands say, okay, we need a social plan. Oh, okay. Get some of our stuff and put it on social. That's not the way it works. Social media has its own rules. There's relevancy, there's timing, there's engagement, there's, you know, humor, there's so many things you got to do.

And I found, I think my takeaway from Tupperware , and it's not ultimately what led to their bankruptcy filing. There's a lot more to it, but my takeaway from it was make sure you know your customer and speak to your customer. Don't try to just like shove an old message down their throat when they're just don't want to hear it.

So yeah, I, you know, big [00:12:00] brand you know, if you read the details of it, , they still have plans, you know, I wouldn't count them out just yet. You know, there's a lot to do there but it is definitely a great opportunity. They've got a lot of work ahead of them, but. I wouldn't count them out.

Jordan Buckner: The one of the challenges you mentioned earlier on was around awareness and getting in front of people. How are you leveraging different platforms and tools to get Mr. Lid into more people's hands and getting more into the conversation so that people are discovering you and trying it out? 

Pall Musaev: Gosh, we're trying so hard, Jordan.

You know, the initial thought was let's work with influencers and creators, and that's, you know, guaranteed to be successful. It's not, it's hard, man. And, you know, there is no guarantees in any of this. So what we quickly kind of had to pivot to was where we want to try to find more up and coming influencers and creators that, you know, to us, there's a huge value there because they're trying to build their business and they're working really hard to kind of drive awareness.

And it helps brands like ours because, you know, it's not easy. [00:13:00] It's not cheap to work with influencers that have, you know, successful platforms. What we've learned with Mr. Lid is that cool concept, fun brand. When you get a Mr. Lid in your hand, that's when it really sells. Cause you start to understand why it's a better container and how it makes your life easier.

And so working again with influencers who maybe don't have as much of a follower base and are really working hard to kind of drive that up, you know, We tend to get a lot more use cases and like passion from them as they use them versus just like a paid spot and that's not meant any, you know, criticism towards the larger influencers.

I just think they're better suited for. Maybe more established brands versus, you know, Mr. Lid, who's trying to drive awareness. 

Jordan Buckner: Yeah. I mean, maybe you agree with this as well, but you'll even still, when you think about a storage and container, like it's cool, but it's not necessarily like the fashion statement, like the thing that people are going to be like, want to be seen with all the time.

But maybe they're seeing more of the value from that continuous use, right? If someone posts about it one time, then, you know, like maybe they'll [00:14:00] miss it. But if someone's like always doing meal prep and they have this really cool container, maybe the third or fourth or fifth time they see it, they're like, what is that thing?

And then like they go to find it. And so I think that old adage of being able to have 10, 12 touch points with a consumer before they might even purchase it. And that just takes being kind of everywhere, being part of the conversation. Out there and it might not be the primary feature, but maybe it's the secondary thing.

In some cases we're like, it's just everywhere. It's like, that's the thing I want to have because like the whole like meal prep thing is cool. But like, I want that contained, right? Like in the background and like get people really excited and interested. 

Pall Musaev: I agree. And that's exactly the funny thing with this brand is the obvious feature is that it's got the lid attached.

We have actually pivoted that that's like kind of the third thing that we focus on. The first is that we're a fun brand and that isn't just a that would be really nice to have that strategic. If our vision is to see Mr. Lid out in the wild and have people make reusable containers cool [00:15:00] again, it needs to be a fun brand.

That is part of the strategy. If we don't make it a fun brand. you can't expect someone to be pulling this out of their bag if it's not a fun company that, you know, doesn't have a stigma attached to it or something like that. It's got to be a form of self expression. That's why I was at the licensing show talking to different brands.

I want to see, you know, Disney branded Mr. Lid. I want to see Paul Frank or Louis Vuitton design, Mr. Lids, like I want to convince these brands that we're worth, you know, putting your brand on to give, you know, people this sense of self expression. So we do see this behavior occur. So again, the lid attached is cool.

I think what we're doing from a social side, which is like what you alluded to making containers cool again, that's even more important because that's how we can get young people, everybody, , but young people to. You know, take a container out into the wild and not feel embarrassed about it. 

Jordan Buckner: Yeah, I love it. So what's next , for Mr. Lid? Can the, what are you hoping to accomplish next? 

Pall Musaev: [00:16:00] Well world domination. That's just, that's always good. , we're just, we're working hard, you know, to earn one customer at a time right now. I will tell you this I'm next week, early next week, I was invited down to Walmart as part of their open call.

So we did get a ticket to that. We have a presentation with Walmart. We are a made in the USA company which speaks to Walmart's kind of values with their open call. We're hoping to get some traction with retail and you know, we do ultimately want to be able to bring the price down to this product.

We are made in the USA and we want to stay that way. We have a commitment to getting that price down to the customer to make it as more accessible. And working with Walmart will kind of help us achieve those goals. Should we you know, get that coveted golden ticket when we're there next week?

Jordan Buckner: I love that. And so are you sold in any retail stores right now? 

Pall Musaev: Not at the moment. We're Amazon and MrLid. com. , we want to go into retail, but we want to do it carefully. we want to make sure that people know who MrLid is, know the brand, know our values. So when they see us on the shelves, it's not the first time they're [00:17:00] seeing it.

So we're kind of. We're working really hard on social to kind of get some momentum before we, you see Mr. Lid on the shelves. 

Jordan Buckner: Yeah, that's a great approach as well because I know the easiest way , to die on shelf is with no one knows about it and no one's looking for you there. And so I do that approach of building the awareness so that people are asking you like, Hey, when can I buy this in X stores?

And you can even use that data to then pitch those stores and be like, Hey, our customers want to buy at your store. And that's the perfect thing , that retailers want to hear. Well, Paul, thank you for being on today. This is awesome and looking forward to following your success , and the growth of the brand.

Pall Musaev: Thanks for having me, Jordan. Love the chat.