Anna Harman, co-founder of ear-piercing studio Studs, was walking near her New York City apartment in January when she noticed a long line of people waiting outside a store. It was below zero, she said, but dozens of customers had come to buy hot cocoa at Glace, a cafe that opened last June.
The wintery drink, complete with s’mores lid, had gone viral on social media like TikTok and Instagram, and its popularity gave Harman and her team an idea. In March, Studs partnered with Glace to give away free lemon meringue hot chocolate (inspired by Studs’ signature shade of yellow) outside Studs’ Flatiron store in New York City. Lines also snaked around the block, and Studs published three Instagram posts about the partnership, which garnered 500,000 views.
Studs’ collaboration with Glace is emblematic of the company’s partnership strategy in the food space: find a hot bakery, chef or food brand that’s become popular on social media, collaborate with them on a product or experience, and hope that the whole thing goes viral, too.
“I think (food manufacturers) have understood not only how the consumer wants to eat, but how they want to create content,” Harman told Modern Retail. “And if we can partner with them, it’s beneficial for both of us. People come into our stores because they’re excited to get that viral product, and that similarly associates us with a viral brand.”
Studs, founded in 2019, operates on a direct-to-consumer model with its piercing studios and online jewelry business. While Studs paused retail expansion during the pandemic, the company now has more than 25 locations and is reportedly on pace to see a 35% increase in sales by 2024. Studs is positioning itself as a Gen Z-friendly challenger to traditional piercing studios, and many of its core customers are social media users. On those channels, “food is having a big moment right now,” Harman explained, so Studs is looking to forge more partnerships in that space.
This weekend, Studs is celebrating its newest partnership with a New York City bakery called Noa, which makes a popular dessert called the “Crookie” – a warm, gooey hybrid of a croissant and a chocolate chip cookie. Studs has partnered with Noa to create a mini version of the treat with lemon glaze (again, in Studs’ signature yellow), which will be distributed to anyone who visits Studs’ Meatpacking District store in New York City on Saturday and Sunday, rain permitting.
The Crookie, which originated in France but can now be found in bakeries around the world, first appeared on social media in the spring. As of August 7, there were nearly 11,000 videos on TikTok—including one with nearly 1 million views—using the hashtag #Crookie. The dessert is so popular that publications like Axios, Gothamist, CBS News and The Guardian are offering tips on how to snag the Crookie in real life.
Like the Crookie, Studs’ partnerships are multifaceted. While some of the partnerships include giveaways, others are product collaborations. For example, in September 2023, Studs teamed up with Shake Shack to create a burger-shaped charm earring inspired by Shake Shack’s ShackBurger, a dish that has been the subject of thousands of videos on TikTok and Instagram. Studs sold the earrings online and at 11 Studs locations across the U.S. Studs declined to disclose the number of earrings sold, but the product is still available on Studs’ website.
Studs saw a surge in social media mentions in the days following its partnership with Shake Shack, with nearly 1.5 million people watching a TikTok video of Cassie Yeung, a contestant on season two of “Next Level Chef,” wearing the burger earrings while preparing a homemade ShackBurger.
Next, on August 24, Studs will collaborate with Van Leeuwen, a New York-based ice cream brand that has gone viral with flavors like Kraft Mac & Cheese and Glass Onion, to celebrate the opening of both stores in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Van Leeuwen will operate a truck outside Studs’ new store while the company waits to open its own, and Studs will offer discounts on piercings to the local community.
Harman said Studs sees an increase in footfall in stores on days when it runs promotions or launches cross-brand collaborations. Sales also increase, she said, “but a few great sales days … are not critical to the business.”
“What we love,” she explained, “is that people create content about the experience. That alone is worth it to us… We really focus on the impressions we get.”
Studs isn’t the only one incorporating food into his marketing strategy. In recent years, brands like Panera and Liquid Death have seen huge increases in sales for original merchandising products like baguette-shaped bags and mini fridges that they’ve touted on social media. Now, more and more non-food brands are teaming up with food brands to appeal to their adoring fan bases, generate clicks and increase sales.
In April 2023, burger chain Whataburger launched a line of T-shirts, bikes and cornhole sets with Academy Sports + Outdoors. In 2020, Nike partnered with Ben & Jerry’s to release “Chunky Dunky” sneakers inspired by the ice cream brand’s “Chunky Monkey” flavor. Crocs has collaborated with McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Hidden Valley Ranch on now-sold-out clog and Jibbitz collections.
Greg Carlucci, senior director analyst at Gartner, told Modern Retail that more brands are looking to partner to expand their audiences, especially in the face of shrinking marketing budgets. “I think in recent years, a lot of brands have operated in silos, but you’re seeing more and more collaborations between similar products or adjacent categories,” he explained. “It’s a mutual benefit.”
Erin Killian-Kristyniak, vice president of global partnerships at creator platform Partnerize, said it’s a “really smart strategy” for brands like Studs to keep an eye on trends and use them as a jumping off point for partnerships. But she stressed that brands shouldn’t expect to go viral just because they jump on a viral topic. “You can’t put all your eggs in the viral basket,” she told Modern Retail. “You can look for the things that excite you… but just because there’s a lot of interest (in something) doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have success with it.”
Still, Studs’ Harman is optimistic about the strategy and hopes it will generate buzz and long lines for future partnerships. “I judge (these partnerships) … by the line,” she told Modern Retail. “To me, that’s a sign that we’ve achieved something that people are really excited about.”
