Popular culture trends are always dictating the entertainment market, providing a good opportunity for businesses to profit from them.
Pop culture is ever-changing. Every now and then, a new trend pops up and attracts millions of eyeballs. The influence of pop culture among the people is huge, as it makes them want to have their lives similar to what is presented on media. People admire pop culture celebrities, their fashion sense and overall living standards.
Many entrepreneurs have been smart enough to realize the potential of this influence and have gotten successful by selling products and services inspired by popular culture elements.
Here are a few success stories of businesses inspired by pop culture, that started out small but made it big.
Cover it up
“People like to carry what they love,” affirms Ronak Sarda, the 21-year-old founder of Cover it Up.
Back in 2013, when most of the youth in India had just started carrying smartphones, Sarda understood the scope of the phone cover market. He started off by creating phone covers inspired by pop culture trends and soon realized the potential of merchandise inspired by pop culture trends.
What started as a phone cover startup turned into an apparel brand offering sweatshirts, t-shirts, hoodies, and even stationery. Currently, he offers more than half a dozen product categories – all inspired by the entertainment world.
Hero Within
Hero Within‘s success is a classic example of how with the right idea and strategies, small scale businesses can grow into something huge.
Tony Kim, the founder of Hero Within, considers himself a nerdy fanboy who always struggled to find fashion that appealed to him. His love for pop culture-inspired him to create a sophisticated fashion apparel brand appealing to ‘nerds’. His initial collection was inspired by DC comics, and, within a few years of starting his business, he collaborated with DC comics for their official merchandise.
Bewakoof
Bewakoof (meaning “stupid”) was started in 2012 by two millennials, Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot, with a vision of converting entertainment into business. Bewakoof is an e-commerce store based in India that deals in apparel and merchandise based on pop culture trends. It primarily targets people between 16 and 34 years of age.
Over the years, it has collaborated with many other businesses, like The Souled Store. It provides high-quality products at an affordable rate, and that has proven to be a big hit among the youth.
Mr Iron Captain Kim
Can you imagine a collaboration between Captain America and Kim Jong Un? It might seem unlikely, but a café based in Hong Kong took inspiration from this idea exactly.
Mr Iron Captain Kim is a Korean barbeque-style café that is perfect for a fun-filled evening. It has décor inspired by both personalities and boasts a street style interior. This restaurant is located in Plaza Hollywood Shopping Mall and offers mouth-watering dishes like golden fried chicken and cheese rice with chilli sauce.
Procosplay
If you have ever been to Comic Con or a specific pop culture convention, you must have come across people dressed as their favorite characters. There are many brands offering cosplay costumes inspired by fictional characters presented on popular media.
One such brand is Procosplay, a China based firm offering costumes, props and uniforms to be worn at Comicon and other similar conventions. Be it anime, films, sitcoms or any other pop culture trend, you name it – they have a costume for it.
Many similar success stories are inspiring businesses to involve pop culture in their business models. This way, they can grab the attention of potential consumers.
