Brand collaborations are taking the world by storm. They’re ubiquitous, but not necessarily a recent phenomenon. The first known brand collaboration was between Wedgewood, the fine china maker and the British Royal Family in the 1760s.
But, I’m confident that collaboration included nothing like some of the most popular collaborations in the past couple of years. For those not totally familiar with this unique way of promoting and selling products, a collaboration, cross launch or “X” launch is when two, usually well-known and successful brands, like Rimowa suitcases from Germany and American skater fashion brand Supreme, decide to release products sharing features and branding from both groups hoping the synergy will be substantial–persuading conservative business suitcase buyers to want a “hip” look in their luggage covered with the Supreme logo or Supreme fashionistas or skateboard afficionados to make their first or next suitcase purchase one from Rimowa–a very expensive, but high quality case.
Cross launching or brand collaboration represents the genuine spirit of “with” based living. The brands are seeking to improve their communication with their separate markets in a form of “talk with” product launch. The brands themselves are “working and building with” each other and, as marketing stats flow, they are “learning with” each other as to the success of the original collaboration and the business argument for becoming even more tightly engaged.
Some of the most popular brand collaborations of recent years have included:
Cheetos and Forever 21–clothing
Lego and Stranger Things–set builds from the online series
Vans and Harry Potter–sneakers and the famous movie franchise
Uber and Spotify–public transportation and music streaming.
As with life, some collaborations work better than others. Some push the connection too hard for the public’s taste. Others just don’t quite gel. But, the ones listed above, as well as many others, are proof that brands, like people and organizations, can get real, measurable business advantage by putting the concept of “with” to work in their appeal to the marketplace.
(taken from www.qualitylogproducts.com)
