"Once upon a time, not that many years ago, most companies with important new products just announced them, perhaps with a press conference, and maybe a big advertising push.
These days, new products -- not just from chic fashion brands but also fast-food chains and mattress makers -- get "dropped." And what that means, and why it's become pervasive, says a lot about how the twinned technologies of social media and e-commerce have changed the way people shop -- especially for Generation Z and millennials, for whom drops are almost inescapable.
"Drop" isn't just a buzzy term for product launches. It's a particular approach to turning them into marquee events that entail countdown clocks, limited editions of customized goods, collaborations between influencers and brands, and an addictive cycle of continuous new releases.
There are drops for just about every category of products you can name. Dozens, if not hundreds of drops happen every day, announced in companies' own apps and on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and other social networks. The likes of Chipotle (which dropped cilantro soap), McDonald's (T-shirts and other clothes in collaboration with stars like Kid Kudi), and mattress maker Serta (pillowy fashion sneakers) drop merchandise to build their brands, and buzz. But the majority of drops are small-batch items from individuals and direct-to-consumer startups offering snacks, drinks, cosmetics, toys, digital goods, and even perishables like kombucha and oysters.
The concept of the product drop isn't new. It originated in streetwear shops in Tokyo in the late 1980s, and was popularized in the U.S. in the late 1990s by lifestyle brands like Supreme. Back then, drops required young people to wait outside exclusive outlets for hours, to buy limited editions of fashion items.
Technology has enabled this phenomenon to spread nearly everywhere in the U.S. consumer economy. Drops now happen not only at boutiques on the hippest streets of the biggest cities, but on mobile phones everywhere, with all the same mechanics -- exclusivity, suspense, a mad rush to buy.
By general consensus, a drop is any time a company announces a limited edition of a product either without preamble or else announces in advance that something is coming, and lets users know exactly when they should open a social-media app or the company's own app (or website) to purchase it.
Drops have become so institutionalized in fashion that in 2015, Nike released an app just for drops of its own sneakers, called SNKRS. A lot of these drops are still in the fashion world, but plenty of other brands drop on Instagram, including Kin Euphorics, which makes gently mood-altering drinks.
One reason drops are popular with young people is that they can make shopping exciting again, says Andrea Hernandez, founder of Snaxshot, a consumer-product consulting firm. In a world where anything you need and most of what you want can be delivered the same day, after a quick search on Amazon, drops create a sense of scarcity -- and exclusivity.
For big brands, drops can be a form of high-potency brand advertising. That the audience is a part of that advertising is what makes it all the more powerful, and viral, especially on TikTok.
An example: The Chipotle Lemonade-Scented Water Cup Candle drop of August 2022. Where a prior generation had to content itself with the occasional logo T-shirt, today's Chipotle superfans are able to buy a $28 soy-wax candle in a ceramic holder that is, according to those who commissioned it, a detailed and loving recreation of Chipotle's actual water cup.
While only a limited number of the candles were made, the amount of buzz they generated on social media was a huge multiple of the amount of brand awareness generated by people actually owning the candles themselves, says Tressie Lieberman, vice president of digital marketing at Chipotle.
For marketers, the best outcome for any message is to only get it in front of people for whom it's relevant. In that respect, "the TikTok algorithm is so great," says Ms. Lieberman.
For some, the possibility of having drops go viral is a way to build a business even without any name recognition or previous status as an influencer.
Andrea O, who declined to give her surname, started selling slime -- the children's toy -- online in 2017. Now 26 years old, she says that drops have been integral to her business model from the start, and now, every week, she drops three to five new slimes -- each made in a limited edition, available online at a set time, and sure to sell out. As a result, her Peachybbies slime business has moved more than 100,000 units of slime in the past year, at around $15 to $19 per slime.
Bolstered by the millions of views her slime videos get on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, she recently rented out a 25,000-square-foot warehouse in Austin in order to accommodate the volume of orders she receives for her weekly drops.
"We've actually spent $0 on paid advertising, we focus entirely on content creation and social-media marketing," she says.
Part of what's going on with the proliferation of creators who also sell merchandise, especially with the rise of TikTok, is that young people are now less interested in big-name influencers -- those highly polished celebrities whose fame is their business, like the Kardashians -- and more interested in everyday people. In part this is because TikTok's algorithm is so good at surfacing content made by just about anyone, as long as it's compelling and relevant, says Simon Beckerman, who founded the vintage and unique clothing-focused fashion marketplace Depop, which sold to Etsy for $1.6 billion in June of 2021.
Already, one area of intense interest by investors and startups is drops for virtual goods. In December 2021, Nike acquired the virtual shoe design company RTFKT for an undisclosed sum. RTFKT has made digital shoes that people can trade on a blockchain, or virtually put on their feet using augmented reality filters in Snapchat.
Virtual goods on blockchains have a checkered history, especially of late, as sales for them have flatlined. But they are a major source of revenue for gaming companies, and might make sense for young people who are already used to customizing their online avatars -- just as they show off for their friends in real life, with sneakers, fashion, and other goods bought through drops.
Drops are already so popular that the phenomenon is in danger of being overexposed, says Ms. Hernandez. The fastest way to make something uncool to a young person is, after all, to make it mainstream.
"It's just become this buzzwordy term that is in danger of being one of the most cringe in the industry," Ms. Hernandez says." [1]
1. EXCHANGE --- Keywords: The Rise of the Product 'Drop' --- Technology is changing how companies market the launch of everything from soap to sneakers
Mims, Christopher.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 27 Aug 2022: B.2.
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