BarkBox is partnering yet again with a movie franchise to offer customers an exciting dog subscription box — this time with Marvel Studios.
The highly-anticipated “Spider-Man: No Way Home” movie will be released exclusively in theaters on Dec. 17, and BarkBox is using the excitement surrounding the film as an opportunity to reach new consumers.
“We’re thrilled to be able to pay homage to Spider-Man and Marvel for such a highly anticipated film release,” Elliott May, VP of Licensing and Business Development at BARK, told SUBTA. “Partnering with licensors with passionate fan bases allows us to reach more dogs and dog parents.”
Read on to learn more about BarkBox’s collaboration with Marvel and the dog subscription box’s future plans.
Dogs Love Superheroes, Too
The company’s latest dog subscription box features movie-themed dog products surrounding the upcoming Spider-Man movie release.
A few of the products featured are a Spider-Man or Doctor Strange toy, a newspaper chew toy titled “The Daily Beagle,” and a bag of jerky lamb treats. The box costs $35/month with the option to purchase six- and 12-months subscriptions at a discounted rate.
“We believe our existing subscribers will love our limited-edition boxes and products so much that they’ll stick around longer as customers,” says May.
A few BarkBox customers have already shown their excitement for the box through social media comments. A Facebook user commented “Oh we can’t wait to get ours,” with another expressing the same sentiment on Instagram: “You had me at spiderman.”
BarkBox’s success with previous partnerships of that caliber is leading the company’s leadership to expect its collaboration with Marvel to perform well, too.
BarkBox’s Dog Subscription Box Partnerships
BarkBox has signed agreements with several other brands in the past, including those within the sports industry: World Wrestling Entertainment, the National Basketball Association, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
One of its more recent collaborations was with Warner Bros; BarkBox created movie-themed dog products surrounding the film, “Space Jam: A New Legacy.” The dog subscription box company added just over 270,000 new subscribers in its fiscal Q2 2022, with a significant portion attributable to the Warner Bros’ partnership, according to May.
BarkBox ended its fiscal Q2 2022 with a gross profit margin of nearly 60% and quarterly revenue reaching more than $120 million, setting the company up for increased success by the end of the year.
The dog subscription box currently has a selection of three holiday-exclusive movie-themed boxes to choose from, alongside its November box: Spider-Man, Peanuts, and Home Alone.
Leveraging popular holiday movies to enhance its offering could expand the dog subscription box’s reach and generate extra traffic as it enters the holiday season.
This strategy of partnering with brands is known as brand licensing — and it’s here to stay.
“We’ve consistently experienced strong retention, high product scores, and high NPS scores related to our collab releases,” May told SUBTA. “For new subscribers, we believe that partnering with brands and industries they love will help us bring them in as customers.”
Future Opportunities for BarkBox’s Dog Subscription Box
With BarkBox’s history of partnering with popular brands — and its high success rate in doing so — the dog subscription box seeks to acquire more subscribers through other brand licensing partnerships in the future. May says that there are plans already in place to introduce special releases in 2022 and beyond.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” he told SUBTA. “So there’s a lot of creative whitespace to play with all sorts of licensors, brands and industries.”
With future collaborations in the works and Marvel in the books, the company is set to reach new dog-loving audiences and continue to grow as a leading example of how brand licensing can escalate a subscription company’s growth in the industry.
Key Takeaways:
- BarkBox is partnering with Marvel for a Spider-Man themed dog subscription box.
- The company gained 270,000 new subscribers in Q3 2021, with a significant portion attributable to its previous partnership with Warner Bros.
- BarkBox expects the Marvel brand licensing agreement to encourage current subscribers to stick around much longer and attract new subscribers.
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