One of the top beverage companies in the world is teaming up with K-pop group BLACKPINK. The partnership comes as the music genre has exploded in growth in many countries worldwide.
What Happened: Restaurant companies have partnered with musicians as a way to market to new audiences in the past. McDonald’s Corp MCD is an example of a company that has partnered with musicians, including launching a popular K-Pop band BTS.
Perhaps following in the lead of McDonald’s, Starbucks Corp SBUX is partnering with BLACKPINK with limited-time beverages and merchandise.
The launch will begin July 25 and center on Starbucks locations in the Asia Pacific region. The partnership includes a new BLACKPINK-themed Strawberry Choco Cream flavored Frappuccino. The beverage has strawberry syrup, dark chocolate sauce, oat milk, chocolate curls, pink whipped cream and heart-shaped chocolate.
Merchandise launching as part of the partnership includes drinkware and lifestyle items. The collection includes 17 items that are mostly pink and black in color to celebrate the group.
“BLACKPINK is synonymous with an authenticity that is bold and confident, making them an inspiring force that transcends geographies and cultures. We are so thrilled to partner with one of the biggest icons of this generation that aligns with our focus on uplifting customers and fans alike through human connection to create an unforgettable Starbucks Experience,” Starbucks Asia Pacific President Emmy Kan said.
Starbucks and BLACKPINK limited-time items will be available while supplies last at stores in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
BLACKPINK was formed in 2016 and consists of members Rose, Jennie, Lisa and Jisoo.
Related Link: Starbucks Q2 Earnings Brew: Investors Sip On EPS Beat, Revenue Growth As Shares Cool Off After Hours
Why It’s Important: BLACKPINK is one of the biggest groups worldwide, ranking as one of the top YouTube channels with 90 million subscribers.
The group also set a Guinness World Record as the most streamed female band on Spotify earlier this year. The band hit a total of 8.88 billion streams at the time of the record with three songs each having over 500 million streams. The group sees over 23 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
The BTS meal at Mcdonald's was available from May to June 2021 in select countries. Reports saw stores seeing long lines and sellouts of products due to the popularity of the group.
McDonald’s even mentioned the BTS meal during its past earnings reports, as reported by NME.
“The BTS Meal drove visits to our restaurants and significant lifts in Chicken McNugget sales — one of our core menu items,” the company said.
International sales for the restaurant giant saw a lift from the BTS Meal. Some outlets reported McNugget sales increased 250% daily.
McDonald's also previously partnered with J Balvin, Saweetie, Travis Scott, Cardi B, Offset and Mariah Carey.
The K-pop music genre has increased in popularity over the years and inspired the launch of the Exchange Traded Concepts Trust KPOP and Korean Entertainment ETF KPOP in 2022.
The combination of the popular K-pop group and the past success of partnering with musicians by restaurants could be something for Starbucks investors to watch going forward.
SBUX Price Action: Starbucks shares trade closed Thursday at $100.88 versus a 52-week trading range of $80 to $115.48.
Read Next: What Analysts Are Saying About Starbucks
Photo: Courtesy Starbucks
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