England, 1970: “It was the era of Free Love,” recalled Jo Racklin, STUD 100 director and heiress to the STUD 100 throne. “Mr. Racklin,” as his daughter relates in a phone interview with XBIZ, was holed up with his business partner at the time, fueled by endless pots of coffee on a 36-hour-long bender, frantically wracking their collective hive mind for the idea of the era.
The duo owned an aerosol factory manufacturing various cosmetic products and the like — until one day they decided that the time had come to diversify their revenue stream. As the pair sat down for an epic brainstorm sesh, Racklin and his partner somehow stumbled upon the topic of premature ejaculation during the course of their research.
There’s a certain kind of quality and personality that comes with being a family business.
For a few years their new venture co-existed with their other products, but eventually Racklin and his partner sold off the other portions of the business and STUD 100 as we know it today was born.
This year the company is celebrating its Golden Anniversary, having quietly purveyed its lidocaine delay spray for the past five decades.
According to Jo, aside from a few minor tweaks to the formula and the product’s packaging, not much has changed in the years since. For the past several decades, STUD 100 has remained relatively hush-hush about their operation, though retelling her father’s origin story elicited a demure, nostalgic chuckle from Jo.
“My dad has always been very modest and I’ve somewhat adopted his discretion. We’re British,” she deadpanned, “we have a bit of a reputation for being ‘proper.’”
While Mr. Racklin continues to prefer life out of the public limelight, over the course of our chat, Jo, who formally joined STUD 100 eight years ago, relates anecdotes that paint a picture of a tight-knit company culture.
“It’s a family business and we’ve always had a strong team,” she shared. “There’s a certain kind of quality and personality that comes with that. It’s very gratifying.”
With four employees stationed at their U.S. base in Portland, Oregon and six in their U.K. offices, the image of a close, familial group, with all the associated quirks, began to materialize.
“My dad almost didn’t want to acknowledge the 50-year anniversary,” she admitted. “He was afraid it would make the brand seem old, but we’ve all been slowly persuading him that it’s a good thing.
“It’s a huge milestone that should be celebrated.”
“We’re not doing anything fancy,” she added, noting, “that’s not our style. But we do plan on doing some promos for our customers and things like that to celebrate this year. It’s really thanks to them that we’re still here.”
A half century on the market in the adult space is most certainly an achievement, putting STUD 100 in the company of very few others. Particularly with the increasing limitations placed on adult brands today in nearly every facet of conducting business, weathering the storm certainly is no easy feat.
As contemporaries focus their sights on an ever-demanding, ultra-plugged-in consumer base that lives on social media, STUD 100 has been operating quietly and consistently in the background, staking their claim in an underserved niche and running with it for all these years.
Don’t mess with success, as they say.
While it’s difficult to speculate what their particular “secret sauce” is, Jo insists that the consistent quality of their product is likely the key to understanding their longevity.
As of now, STUD 100 is sold in 60 countries and, in spite of economic ups and downs and a sexual wellness market that’s boomed in recent years, Jo reports that sales have “grown consistently” since their inception.
“Our safety history is another big reason why customers continue to buy from us,” she affirmed. “Given the medical nature of the product and the strict guidelines different countries have, it’s very important to us.”
Although STUD 100 gained notoriety in the U.S. via the adult industry, Jo describes the company’s success in that sector as a fortunate accident.
“What people forget is that it started off as a pharmaceutical product in the U.K.,” she explained, further revealing that it was her father, no less, that ultimately helped to create the FDA monograph for male genital desensitizers in the 1980s.
In continuing to speak about their consistent safety track record, Jo shared that perhaps the company’s only significant hurdle to overcome has been in dealing with the counterfeit market, which thrives on third-party retailer sites in particular.
“At first it felt like a compliment,” she enthused, “but it’s really terrible. The amount of effort people put into faking STUD 100, they could be making their own unique product at this point.”
On the front page of their website, STUD 100 even addresses their customers, offering to help potential users determine the legitimacy of their purchase if there’s any question.
“It’s definitely something we monitor and take very seriously,” said Jo.
As far as what’s next for STUD 100 in 2020 and beyond, Jo says that the company is very much looking forward to growing their reach and penetrating yet untapped markets.
“We’ve always had a few different ideas floating around in the pipeline, but since the very beginning STUD 100 has always outsold every other product and we’re not particularly interested in making toys or lube,” said Jo.
“The nice thing about having just the one product, though, is that we can really focus on it. Every season is STUD 100 season!”
It’s clear that STUD 100’s success throughout the years and continued longevity is a direct result of their product’s quality and thus, ongoing customer loyalty.
Honoring 50 years in business, Jo reflects on STUD 100 with distilled simplicity. “It’s timeless,” she affirms.
As they push forward full steam ahead, we offer a toast to STUD 100 for their past success and continued positioning as trailblazers and industry stalwarts for many years to come.
