Being served food at an ear-piercing studio may sound like a case for the health department. Turns out, it’s been a major marketing strategy for ear-piercing and jewelry brand Studs.
After the 2021 Studs Loves New York line featuring bagel, pizza, martini, and dumpling-shaped earrings did well, Studs co-founder Lisa Bubbers told us that it sparked an idea among her marketing team of four.
A review of the brand’s Instagram audience data revealed that Studs customers, whose median age is 27, were more likely to be interested in viral food content than fashion, Bubbers, who advises and leads the brand and marketing efforts, said.
So in the last year, Studs has partnered and hosted events with restaurant chain Shake Shack, and bakeries Glace and Noa to give away everything from burgers and custard to crookies and hot chocolate. For Halloween this year, the brand is partnering with the candy company BonBon to give away candy at its NoLita location on October 26.
Studs’s growing retail footprint and the foot traffic stores receive are the “growth engine of the business,” Bubbers said, noting that the brand generally spends less than 5% of its revenue on marketing. So far, she said food collabs are “really working” to drive up foot traffic and generate organic social content that can boost engagement.
Creating a crumb trail
When considering what foods will draw people in, Studs co-founder and CEO Anna Harman told us the team looks at what’s going viral on TikTok. When the crookie, a croissant filled with cookie dough, went viral earlier this year, for example, she said the brand reached out to Noa and collaborated on a two-day event in August where visitors could receive mini-crookies at its Meatpacking District location.
“It’s us seeing what’s happening in the media and being like, ‘Okay, we think our customers are excited about that. Can Studs participate in some way?’” Harman said.
Finding brands that also have large social followings can help in extending Studs’s reach beyond its organic marketing efforts, Bubbers said. Ahead of each event, Studs and its partners run cross-promotions on their social accounts to get the word out.
Once people hear about the free food, it doesn’t take much convincing to get them to come visit, Harman said: “It creates incredible foot traffic to your studios.”
Bubbers agreed, adding that lines of people can be a draw for would-be customers.
“There are people from, let’s say BonBon’s and Studs’s channels that are going to know about it and line up, but there are hundreds and hundreds of people that are going to walk by and be like, ‘What is this?’” Bubbers said. “And then they’re going to learn about Studs because they’re going to see this really cute candy cart.”
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Bubbers said the second-most popular reason customers come to Studs after actually getting a piercing is to have an activity to do with friends—something that pop-ups can provide. “That’s lining up for that viral hot chocolate with your friends on a beautiful Sunday,” she said.
Once at the event, Bubbers said the hope is that people will not only convert to ear piercing or earring shoppers, but will also post about their experience. Harman said Studs also invites influencers to its events and gifts food editors to drum up additional attention around its collabs beyond UGC.
Meet-and-treat
While the brand has 27 stores nationwide, its in-store food activations have been held almost exclusively in New York City, with the Glace and Noa events hosted at its Flatiron and Meatpacking District locations.
To date, Studs’ largest food collaboration was with Shake Shack last fall, which consisted of a limited-edition hamburger-shaped earrings and 10 in-studio events across the country, including in NYC’s NoLita neighborhood, where visitors could try the fast-food chain’s newest custard flavor along with burgers and fries, Harman said.
“Shake Shack is a huge national brand, and we wanted to partner with them to get exposure to their audience, and their brand ethos is really aligned well,” Bubbers said. “Now we’re looking at much more local brands that are working in their cities.”
As more stores open up (by year’s end, Studs plans to have 30 studios open), Bubbers said there are opportunities to take its food event strategy to other markets. To celebrate the opening of its Harvard Square location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Studs hosted a pop-up with Brooklyn-based ice cream company Van Leeuwen, which recently expanded to the Boston area and is set to open its first store in the neighborhood soon.
“Every time we do a new store opening, we’re always looking for local partnerships, especially with our neighbors,” Bubbers said.
According to Bubbers, Studs is hoping to do one more big collab to cap off the year. In the meantime, it’s preparing for this weekend’s Halloween pop-up, where visitors can expect free treats—but not free piercings.
“We’re not giving anything away on our end,” Bubbers said. “But free candy is a hit.”