This is the last Starbucks journey. Today’s full of interesting articles.
4. Marketing Activities
Limited MD(Goods) Marketing
Starbucks Coffee Korea’s the limited merchandise marketing is creating a boom in the industry. There’s a big sell-out in every goods they’ve released. Excluding promotional goods for giveaways, 10% of annual sales are said to come from MD such as mugs and tumblers. There is even a joke that “Starbucks is a merchandise(goods) marketing company.”
It all started with the 2003 Starbucks Diary promotion. It was an event to present a planner after drinking 17 cups of coffee for about 9 weeks from the end of October to December. It has become a “representative winter event,” making other coffee shops and people jump into the “diary promotion.” Moreover, what design Starbucks will offer this year has become the biggest issue in the industry every year.
In June 2020, a limited edition ready bags were presented on a first-come, first-served basis for a month, when a total of 17 cups, including seasonal drinks, were purchased. And a long line continued from dawn in front of Starbucks stores nationwide.
In particular, at a branch in Yeouido, Seoul, a man purchased about 300 cups of coffee and took only 17 of “Summer ready bags” and a cup of coffee, and negative opinions emerged as this case spread through SNS. There have also been cases of reselling a second-hand trading platform with more than 2~3 times the original price. As the number of consumers who purchased only drinks and did not receive free gifts increased due to the shortage of goods, the Fair Trade Commission considered whether there were any problems under the Fair Trade Act. Eventually, as the summer giveaway event overheated, Starbucks changed its system to allow only one “summer ready bag” to be exchanged from 5th.
Cause analysis: MZ Generation
The consumers who is enthusiastic to limited-edition goods are wide ranging from students to office workers, but it seems that especially among the MZ generation, whose consumption culture has developed, is causing this kind of stir. Regarding this phenomenon, an expert explained, “The process of consumption has become a medium of play and communication, such as posting on social media that getting limited-edition goods or talking stories of waiting for hours to get them.” and “That’s why they enjoyed buying limited edition goods that they wanted to buy, and the consumer sentiment became a kind of playing and enjoying it.”
Expansion to other related industries
As a result, goods marketing targeting MZ generation has expand to the food retail industry. Looking at this, it deserves to be said that a very successful marketing.
The final comment
Starbucks Korea continues it limited-edition goods marketing this year. I am curious about how long it will continue to be sold out.
