Under the deep bear market, why is Starbucks NFT selling crazy?

Author: Kyle

In the NFT market, Starbucks is not only not afraid of the bear market, but also playing well.

On August 2, the coffee brand released the 12th NFT series "Green Apron", inspired by Starbucks' most classic barista clothing. The unit price of the green apron NFT is 100 US dollars, a total of 5,000 pieces. It was sold out soon after it went on sale. After entering the secondary market, the cheapest one also rose to 123 US dollars. (Related reading: "Data Interpretation: Holders Are Reluctant to Sell, Starbucks NFT Series Are Profitable")

You must know that the total market value of the NFT market has dropped from US$10.6 billion a year ago to US$5.7 billion today. The top NFT series have been cut in half, and Starbucks has almost ignored the market freezing period. Since the launch of the NFT program in December last year, The price of every NFT that has been released is "on the water", and all of them have broken, and some of them still have more than 2 times the income so far.

Starbucks, which binds physical brand IP and NFT, has explored a set of successful digital marketing methods. So, can its experience be replicated?

1. Starbucks’ new NFT is selling like crazy again

In the early morning of August 2, Starbucks launched its 12th NFT series on the NFT market Nifty Gateway, called "Green Apron", translated as green apron.

"Green apron" is one of Starbucks' classic logos. It is the standard clothing for Starbucks baristas and a concrete embodiment of the long history of the coffee brand. From the original "Pike Place Apron" to the "Siren" apron that people see today, although the clothing of Starbucks baristas has been constantly updated for more than 50 years, green has long been its most recognizable background color. .

The green apron NFT series is limited to 5,000 copies, with a single issue price of $100. When it goes on sale in the early morning of August 2, only members of the Starbucks Odyssey NFT program and internal employees can purchase in advance, and the purchase entrance will be opened to the public three hours later.

As with every previous offering, these NFTs were quickly wiped out and flowed into the secondary market. $123 is the floor price of Green Apron NFT 15 hours after its release. That means anyone can easily make $23 for every NFT they buy.

Don't underestimate the 23% increase, because the current NFT market is in a deep bearish moment.

According to data from the third-party data platform NFTGO, the total market value of the NFT market has dropped from US$10.6 billion a year ago to US$5.7 billion today. The floor prices of well-known NFTs such as Boring Ape and Azuki have been cut in half, and more NFTs have been directly lost. liquidity.

Under such a market environment, the Starbucks NFT series is like a heterogeneous market, and each issue is quickly sold out, and so far no NFT has fallen below the issue price.

In December last year, Starbucks officially entered the NFT market with the "Odyssey Journey Plan". "Odyssey" comes from the Greek epic and tells the story of the hero Odysseus in Greek mythology who returned home after 10 years after the end of the Trojan War. Now, Odyssey usually describes a journey of adventure and exploration. Starbucks named it after this to show its long-term and continuous exploration of NFT.

Indeed, for more than half a year, Starbucks has issued new NFTs almost every month, 4 of which are paid for purchase, and the rest can be obtained by completing tasks. Most of the NFT designs are also closely related to the brand culture, covering the first store, the story background of coffee beans, the iconic siren, etc.

Part of the NFT series issued by Starbucks

On March 10 this year, Starbucks first launched the NFT series "Siren" that requires a fee to be purchased. It is limited to 2,000 copies. exhausted. Today, the floor price of this series of NFTs is $378, which is 3.78 times higher than the issue price.

In April, the Starbucks First Store Collection series NFT was released at a price of US$99, with a total of 5,000 copies. Now its floor price is US$120; in June, the Avatar Collection series NFT was released at a price of US$25, with a total of 7,000 copies. Users can buy up to 3 pieces, and currently, its floor price is $34.5.

Starbucks continues to turn its classic elements into NFTs, which are sought after by the market. This fiery buying sentiment is in stark contrast to the freezing NFT market.

**Ignoring Deep Bear’s Starbucks NFT, what did you do right? **

Give NFT real power to lower the threshold for "buying it"

So far, Starbucks is the best example of the combination of physical brand and NFT. It continuously injects brand elements and stories into NFT, each of which is linked with brand actions.

Before the release of Green Apron NFT, Starbucks launched a new coffee flavor in May this year-Green Apron Blended Coffee. Unlike other in-store coffees, it was created by Starbucks employees. Starbucks received nearly 24,000 submissions shaping the flavor and roast profile of the Green Apron blend.

Green Apron blended coffee has also been endowed with public welfare connotations - for every cup of "Green Apron" sold, Starbucks will donate 0.1 US dollars to its CUP fund. CUP is an emergency relief fund started by employees 25 years ago to help employees in times of need, such as family emergencies or after natural disasters.

With new taste, new IP, and new connotation, "Green Apron" is unique among the Starbucks series of NFTs, and it also increases the value of collection. Emotional meaning is only one aspect, and equity is the most attractive part of the Starbucks NFT series. For most people, what kind of benefits can be obtained by owning Starbucks NFT is more important.

In terms of rights and interests design, Starbucks has combined with its perfect point system, and each NFT has designed a point range related to scarcity. By accumulating more points, users can unlock some unique benefits and experiences. For example, users with 1,000-2,999 points can get virtual coffee courses or Starbucks coffee passports; with 3,000-5,000 points, users can choose to name a coffee tree, participate in a virtual tasting session with a bag of coffee, or get a Free Starbucks cold cup; with more than 6,000 points, users can choose a customized MiiR 360 traveler camping cup, 30 days of free drinks or Starbucks boutique experience.

In addition to physical rewards, Starbucks NFT rights also include a variety of rewards that include brand culture and experience, such as virtual coffee making courses. The most popular ones are cooperation with artists and invitations to participate in Starbucks Selected Baking Workshops.

Generally speaking, NFTs that can be obtained for free by doing tasks are worth 125 points, and NFTs that cost $100 are worth 1,500 points. The idea of many people buying NFT is that they can not only collect it, but also get points rewards. If they don’t want to hold it anymore, they can also realize profits in the secondary market. After the green apron NFT was released, some users posted screenshots of the purchase and said excitedly, "Each one can get 1,500 points, and it's time to unlock the 4th level of benefits."

Some users are very interested in accumulating points

It can be seen that Starbucks' equity system design has a sufficient incentive effect on users. One thing that cannot be ignored is that Starbucks itself is already a world-renowned IP. The accumulation of brand culture and a huge user base provide a strong prerequisite for its NFT design and sales. Therefore, the path of Starbucks is not easy to replicate.

In addition to the effectiveness of equity incentives, Starbucks NFT has thought of the entry threshold of the market group from the beginning of its release.

When using the Web3 method of blockchain to issue NFT, Starbucks' target groups include not only Web3 native groups who are familiar with on-chain wallet transactions, but also a wider range of consumers who are accustomed to the Internet (Web2) or conventional payment methods. .

You will find that each NFT of Starbucks is issued on the Polygon blockchain with lower transaction costs (the interaction between users and the blockchain network requires a network gas fee similar to the handling fee), which is convenient for Web3 natives to purchase. Even without a blockchain wallet, ordinary users can purchase NFT directly with a credit or debit card in the Starbucks APP.

In this way, Starbucks' huge inherent consumer group can directly access NFT with the usual payment method, without having to understand new concepts such as encrypted wallets, mnemonics, and GAS fees at the beginning. And those native groups who do not need Web3 market education are well versed in the rules of the NFT market, and can quickly send Starbucks NFT to the secondary market.

With the increase in the number and categories of NFTs, the Starbucks digital community composed of holders has also grown stronger. People chatted about NFT and coffee in the community, gradually building a consensus, and deepening their loyalty to the Starbucks brand. This may be a long-term indicator that Starbucks values more than selling NFT to make money.

A traditional food brand used APP to complete the digital transformation of the sales process in the past, and now uses NFT to complete the traffic precipitation, unifies some offline consumer groups with online traffic, and uses NFT to achieve closer emotions between users and the brand bound. For Starbucks, this is a convenient way to understand customer loyalty and formulate brand and product development plans based on it, and it is both fashionable and effective.

Starbucks' successful attempt in the NFT field has also created a model room for other commercial IPs. The combination of NFT and the rights and interests of brand consumers is not only one of the ways for traditional brands to do digital marketing, but also provides a way to break the NFT IP market-the NFT market stage of frying pictures and designs is over, and the next stage The market hits are likely to come from those NFT series that are associated with physical brands, bound to actual rights and interests, and can interact with actual consumption scenarios.