Yahoo Finance Second Tim Hortons, Justin Bieber collaboration 'coming very soon'
Tim Hortons is bringing back Timbiebs.
After a wildly successful partnership with Justin Bieber that saw sales spike and merchandise sell out, Tim Hortons announced at its first Investor Day on Tuesday that the coffee and doughnut chain will launch a second collaboration with the pop superstar.
While the company isn't providing details on what the collaboration will entail this time around, Tim Hortons chief marketing officer Hope Bagozzi said in an interview with Yahoo Finance Canada that a second campaign with Bieber is in the works and "coming very soon."
Tim Hortons partnered with the Canadian pop star last November, launching three new, limited-edition Timbit flavours called "Timbiebs." Jose Cil, chief executive of Tim Hortons' parent company Restaurant Brands International (QSR)(QSR.TO), called the collaboration "one of the more successful, traffic-driving initiatives in recent memory (that) outperformed our internal expectations."
Bagozzi says that, similar to the original partnership launch, Bieber was involved with developing the product alongside the Tim Hortons team for the second launch.
"We were really thrilled with how engaged Justin was in the whole process, meaning he worked with our Chef Talis (Voakes), he tasted a huge range of products to narrow it down to the ones we eventually launched with, and we actually went to his place and he tried the products himself," she said.
"The same thing happened with phase two. He was equally involved in co-creating the flavour, the taste, trying it himself from a range of different options. That's exciting for us that he's such a passionate partner in this whole process."
The collaboration will include Timbiebs, "but there will also be something different and additional," Bagozzi said.
The second launch comes as Tim Hortons continues to pursue a back-to-basics approach that appeals to its loyal customers while also seeking to reach a new and younger audience.
"Everything we do across menu innovation and partnerships, we do with an eye towards brand modernization conveying a contemporary image of Tims," Bagozzi told investors and analysts on Tuesday. She pointed to product launches such as the company's cold brew and fruit quencher drinks as "great examples of our success in introducing Tims to a new and younger guest while at the same time driving new occasions for our existing loyal fans."
The partnership with Bieber was particularly successful at appealing to a younger audience. Bagozzi says that data from the company's loyalty program showed that the Timbiebs launch was 25 per cent "over-indexed" with a younger cohort.
"That's great to see because we really do want to appeal to younger guests with some of these new platforms and make sure that we stay modern and relevant," she said.
"Definitely Justin and the Timbiebs promotion helped us to do that."
UPDATE: This story has been changed to correct that the collaboration will include the original Timbiebs flavours, not new ones as previously stated.
Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.
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