Andrew Huberman.
He’s a Stanford professor and host of the Huberman Lab podcast. And he’s building a massive fandom off of his ability to take niche health and biology topics mainstream.
Since 2021 he’s been growing an audience of rabid health nuts.
These are people who:
tape their mouths shut while they sleep
stopped drinking alcohol and started drinking bone broth
are going blind staring into the sun first thing in the morning
But how did he do it?
He started publishing long-form interviews about general health in 2021. His in-depth interviews are a way to give everyday people easy-to-understand nuggets of science to improve their lives.
Sometimes he brings on guests to chat about topics where he’s not an expert. But his early episodes are basically him talking to camera for 90 minutes about stress, jetlag, dreams, and the effects of food on your mood.
He’s known for taking complicated topics like sleep, cannabis, and alcohol and breaking down how they affect our brain development.
Huberman is basically a science translator. That’s the genius of his marketing.
He presents as a regular guy who loves talking about science. But what if you don’t have time for the 90 minute episode? He’s got you covered with short-form video highlights.
When you listen to his podcast it’s like he’s whispering “everything you’re doing is bad for you” into your ears, but in a nice-guy kind of way. His content is approachable and easy to consume.
This is no accident (cue evil mastermind music).
From Covid to health daddy
In mid-2020, during the throes of the pandemic, Huberman search queries started increasing on Google. By May 2022 he’s got 1 million subscribers on Youtube and the Youtube algorithm gods are showering him with ad dollars.
Fast-forward to today and he’s got ~10M followers across Instagram and Youtube and the 3rd most popular US podcast on Spotify. If Hubes were a musician, he’d officially be multiplatinum.
This is where it gets interesting.
In August 2023 Huberman goes mainstream because of a New York Times article profiling “Huberman Husbands” – men who follow his biohacking advice so religiously their wives can’t help but laugh at them.
“I don’t know which is worse, an almond mom or a Huberman husband. The case for the Huberman husband being worse is not only do I have to live with him my whole life, but I’m also going to live forever.” - @siececampbell
(we’ll talk almond moms another time).
They’re mouth taping, wearing blue blockers shades to watch tv, and doing 5am cold-plunges. You know, normal shit.
His audience is truly dedicated to self-improvement and fitness culture.
According to ViewStats, Huberman’s Youtube channel gets about 15M views and generates ~$80K in ad revenue per month. This does not include any paid sponsorships he promotes on the podcast.
His stated goal for the channel is to provide valuable health information at “zero-cost.”
But what happens when your podcast is so popular and your fans so passionate that any topic you cover has the potential to move markets?
Pass the Courvoisier Magnesium
Sleep is a well-covered topic on Huberman Lab. I’m not a doctor, but the short of it is that cannabis, alcohol, screens, caffeine, and breathing through our mouths are all disruptive to our sleep.
One supplement for improving sleep that is discussed on Huberman Lab is Magnesium.
Taking Magnesium supplements allegedly helps increase sleep depth, decrease the time it takes to fall asleep, and may help protect brain cells against damage and degeneration.
Again, I’m no doctor, but you know I always got that Mag on me.
Let’s look at the Google Trend data.
For the last 18 months Magnesium has been increasing in popularity. There are significant jumps in search volume around December 2022 and again late in 2023.
This coincides with an increase in “magnesium Huberman” queries on Google Trends.
There isn’t enough data to say he is directly responsible for the Magnesium search boom, but given the context of his growth, it’s fair to say Hubes is having some impact on our culture.
Not convinced? Check out the cold plunge + Huberman trends:
He’s a scientist-creator.
He distributes his specialized knowledge in a credible and relatable way that resonates with millions of people interested in health and wellness.
The way he distills complex scientific information is turning him into a creator with considerable cultural and product influence.
Like I said before: none of this is an accident. It all starts with his content. He is authentic in presenting his “protocols” for how he lives his life.
He doesn’t tell you what to do, he just tells you what he does.
I can’t say for sure Hubes in the pocket of Big Magnesium, but it’s obvious he has the power to influence purchasing decisions for his audience.
It turns out the Creator Economy is for scientists too.
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