Demand for Maison de Sabré phone cases jumps 44% after BLACKPINK cameo

K-pop is one of the biggest music markets in the world. Back in 2020 its events market was valued at US$8.1 billion, with an additional US$220 million in album exports. And its fans spend big.

Australian leather brand, Maison de Sabré, discovered this recently when BLACKPINK — one of the biggest K-pop girl groups in the world — sported its personalised phone cases, which resulted in a 44% jump in demand.

Maison de Sabré launched back in 2017 as a way for the founders Zane and Omar Sabré to pay for their university fees.

Targeting the premium accessories market but with achievable price tags, the pair saw $10 million in sales in their second year. Fast forward to 2023 and the brand now exports to 131 countries and sells a product every two minutes.

And the brand saw this jump further during BLACKPINK’s recent Australian tour. Members of the group were spotted, both on stage and on street, sporting the label’s personalised leather phone cases.

In data seen by SmartCompany, this resulted in a 44% uptick in demand for Maison de Sabré’s phone cases.

The brand also saw a substantial increase in social media engagement, with a ten-fold increase on Instagram and 20-fold across TikTok and Twitter.

This isn’t particularly surprising considering BLACKPINK’s own social media presence, with 56 million followers on Instagram, 44.5 million on TikTok and 89.3 million on YouTube. When it comes to the Instagram of the individual group members, their collective Instagram accounts equate to half a billion followers.

The branding power of K-pop

If you’re not a fan of K-pop or across it as an industry, its fan power is enormous. And that translates to sales.

According to a study by South East Asian e-commerce aggregator, i-price, BLACKPINK fans (dubbed ‘BLINKS’) spend an average of US$665 on the likes of tickets, albums and merchandise. And this is just a fraction of what the fans of BTS — the biggest K-pop group in the world — spend.

According to the data, the BTS ARMY (the nickname given to fans) spends an average of US$1,442.

And it looks like the K-pop market is only going to grow, with analysis from Allie Market Industry estimating it will be a US$20 billion industry by 2031.

It’s something that certainly isn’t being ignored by luxury beauty and fashion brands, BLACKPINK themselves recently attended Paris Fashion Week and have partnerships with Chanel, Cartier, and Dior.

Similarly, members of BTS have collaborated with luxury labels such as Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Dior, and Tiffany & Co, as well as ‘everyday’ brands such as Samsung, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Disney+.

This is a great lesson for brands. K-pop’s popularity is exploding throughout the world. With it comes dedicated fans who are more likely to be influenced than a celebrity endorsement from other segments of the entertainment industry.

Fandom is a powerful force, whether it is coming from geek culture (look at Star Wars merchandising) or K-pop idols. Passionate and engaged fans translate to dollars, and smart retailers pay attention to that.