There's Something About Sabrina
Nowadays with social media it seems like there's always another new young artist who has quickly shot to the top as a global sensation. While the time period between when an artist goes from semi-known (or unknown) to practically a household name is short, the time they've been working towards this success is much longer. Sabrina Carpenter is a prime example of this phenomenon.
One of the major challenges for brands seeking a rapid increase in brand awareness is determining the optimal timing, which significantly influences the cost of working with talent and the potential return on investment. In this article, Hollywood Branded shines a light on Sabrina Carpenter's strategic brand partnerships surrounding her new hit song "Espresso," highlighting the collaborative efforts that amplify both her artistic reach and the brands' market presence.
But First, Who Is Sabrina Carpenter?
No nonsense here. Sabrina Carpenter has quickly shot to the top of everyone's radars, but she isn't a new player to the game. Originally just a girl from Pennsylvania who entered a singing contest held by none other than Miley Cyrus during her Disney days, Sabrina has found herself on screen quite a few times since landing in 3rd in the competition.
That contest exhibited Sabrina's star power potential and essentially kicked off her entertainment career.
After MileyWorld, Sabrina had guest appeared on popular TV shows such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC, Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and Austin & Ally on Disney Channel.
It wasn't until 2014, however, that Sabrina landed a leading role in Disney's Girl Meets World (a spin-off of ABC's hit show Boy Meets World).
Photo Credit: Disney Channel
From 2009 to today, Sabrina's dedication to her craft is undeniable as she has balanced bouncing back and forth between singing and acting over the course of fifteen years. The result of this grueling work has allowed her to steadily climb to the top of the mountain she's found herself on now.
Now having become one of Hollywood's "It" girls, let's take a look at the brands that with the right dollars and core audience partnered with Sabrina Carpenter to capitalize on her chart topping song "Espresso".
Supergoop!
A great example of a brand that has their finger on the pulse of what's hot is sunscreen brand Supergoop!
Founded in 2007, it's fair to say that Supergoop! is an established brand that has been on people's radar's for a while.
Supergoop! is no joke as they've activated at Coachella, partnered with Minions: The Rise of Gru, and received glowing endorsements (pun intended) from several celebrities such as Mindy Kaling, Kaia Gerber, and Hailey Bieber.
With the roster of celebrity endorsements, it seems only natural that Supergoop! would partner with Hollywood's next "It" girl Sabrina Carpenter for her song "Espresso".
Given the concept of the music video which is, in short, (yes, another pun intended) Sabrina living her best lakeside girl life, it's more likely than not, that it was a natural fit for Supergoop! to integrate into the video.
While many brands would LOVE for that big close up moment with the brand's logo and product on the screen for a few seconds, Supergoop! took a different approach.
Photo Credit: YouTube | Sony Music Entertainment | Tate McRae
Instead of trying to force the viewers to look at their products, they allowed them to try and spot them.
It's a smart move on their part since their brand message is that they're the "It" girl brand. Therefore, one thing that "It" girls don't do is demand attention, they command it.
Now some may be wondering, but why did they do the integration? What did Supergoop! do to bring attention to their integration?
Well, the sunscreen brand opted promoting their integration through their owned and operated (O&O) channels.
This allowed Supergoop! to call out their product integrations in the music video on socials (both their feed and stories) and their e-newsletter, directly associate themselves with Sabrina, and put out a call to action.
Photo Credit: Supergoop!
To put the cherry-on-top Supergoop! even hosted a giveaway for their Glowscreen that was featured in the "Espresso" music video!
And with a stroke of genius, Supergoop! also utilized a mock Sabrina Carpenter influencer to show Supergoop! followers how they can use Supergoop! products to improve their makeup look. That's one way to save a couple thousand dollars while achieving the desired messaging and result!
Another takeaway that brands should factor into their integration deals documenting their partnership in an easily accessible way such as the Highlight's section on Instagram.
Photo: Instagram | Supergoop!
Here, Supergoop! was able to celebrate this partnership and share it with any new visitors to their page as a reason why their brand is the coolest.
Photo Credit: Instagram | Supergoop!
As Supergoop! and Sabrina share a similar target audience this is a prime example of how brands can find a great opportunity and maximize their investment.
Alfred
Speaking of having a shared target audience, Alfred is a cafe chain that is best known for their coffee. They currently have 23 locations primarily, but not soley in, the United States. =
Photo Credit: Alfred Coffee
Photo Credit: Noah Webb
Photo Credit: Alfred Coffee
Alfred is another brand that matches Sabrina's tone and aesthetic as well as is a natural partnership in conjunction with her song "Espresso".
Shortly after the single's release Alfred announced a limited edition Sabrina's Vanilla Rose Cold Foam Latte (doesn't that roll off the tongue?).
They quickly took to Instagram to promote Sabrina's Vanilla Rose Cold Foam Latte and announced on their Instagram Story that the first 100 people to use the code "Sabrina" on the Alfred app would get the latte for free.
Furthermore, Alfred and Team Sabrina (Sabrina's official fan page) generated excitement around the new drink by reposting Instagram Stories fans who ordered the special latte on their own Instagram stories.
While it seems the limited edition "Espresso" themed / Sabrina related drink and first 100 orders are free offer wasn't entirely exclusive to Alfred, as other coffee shop activations did happen at Coachella and London, Alfred was given location exclusivity in Los Angeles.
This partnership just demonstrates how brands can still take advantage of an opportunity with talent to reach their target audience despite not having full category exclusivity.
This is beneficial for brands who may want to activate with talent but may not have enough dollars to buy out the category and/or brands who want to save some dollars while still targeting their desired demographic and receiving a impactful return on investment.
Van Leeuwen
Move aside fruitcake. It's time for ice cream with that espresso!
About two months after the release of "Espresso", ice cream parlor chain Van Leeuwen announced their VL x Sabrina Carpenter Espresso flavor.
To celebrate it's release, Sabrina even promoted it on her Instagram Story!
Unsurprisingly, given how "Espresso" sky rocketed in popularity and Sabrina herself posting about it, Van Leeuwen's limited quantities sold out.
Despite the special flavor coming out a bit later after the single's original release, but it was almost perfectly timed to keep the song on people's radars and in their heads.
This partnership helps show that with the right partner, a project's popularity can actually be lengthened while increasing sales for the brand.
Isn't that sweet?
Sabrina Carpenter and her team are proof that it's easy to go viral (example A: Sabrina's Nonsense outro adlibs) but it takes work to maintain a career from it and continue to grow.
Looking at Sabrina's history she's worked extremely hard to gain the notoriety that she now has for her ingenious lines and innuendos.
Sabrina's partnerships with these brands for her song "Espresso" demonstrate how brands can authentically market to their consumers utilizing social media to their advantage.
Partnerships in music are especially beneficial to brands who are more eager to see results within a few months or weeks opposed to having to wait 1-3 years.
So stop twiddling your thumbs and get to searching for what talent and/or production could be the best fit for your brand and see what happens!
Photo Credit: UMG | Sabrina Carpenter
Eager To Learn More?
Take a look at our Hollywood Branded blogs to learn more about partnerships the entertainment industry - i.e. the hottest brands, trends, product placement, and more!- Music Marketing: Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS
- The Art of Product Placement in the World of Music
- The Power of Music Video Integration
- How Pop Music Artists Use Brands In Song Lyrics For Partnerships
- How To Market As A Music Artist With Margarita Monet
