Seems like everywhere you look these days, brands are partnering and collaborating with other brands to market themselves to different audiences and drive growth. It’s a powerful and successful strategy when done thoughtfully.
Take a look at any high-profile brand that makes a habit of collaborations, and you can see how strategic alliances have made a big impact on positioning, visibility, and customer engagement. Here’s looking at you, Crocs!
Strong collaborations not only marry the strengths of two brands together, depending on the type of collab—a product collaboration, for instance—produces a brand baby of sorts that is unique and different, allowing both brands to reach larger and more diverse audiences.
Keep reading as we discuss brand collaborations. Hopefully, you’ll walk away from this article understanding the superpowers that the right partnerships can infuse your brand with. Let’s start with some benefits!
Strategic Partnerships Can Raise Exposure and Visibility
Let’s be real. This is one of the biggest draws in brand partnerships. The goal is to use each other, in a nice way of course, in order to gain access to new audiences and increase your brand’s exposure.
For instance, consider the brand collab between Olipop and Barbie. They fused their audiences by creating a whimsical peaches and cream soda. The new, unique product was designed to marry Barbie’s iconic nostalgia with the modern wellness vibe of Olipop.
The new product ended up flying off the shelves, and by banding together in such a strong brand partnership, they both tapped into a new fan base to create buzz and increase sales for everyone.
Strategic Partnerships Can Enhance Brand Authenticity
Moving beyond expanding your brand’s reach, when you find the right partnership, it can also boost your brand’s authenticity and credibility in the eyes of customers. This is because you’re essentially lending each other clout and reputation.
Take E.l.f. Cosmetics and Liquid Death. They banded together to create a product with spooky vibes that attracted a wider audience and underscored the unconventional and edgy brand identities of both companies.
The reason their collab worked so well is because they both hold similar values, and their products appeal to customers who favor the bold and unique. Their partnership was an authentic connection, which in turn felt authentic and credible to their audience.
Strategic Partnerships Can Save You Money
Another great benefit to collabs is that two brands pool resources and share in marketing expenses. It’s the old “two is better than one” argument. The shared costs allow more impactful and comprehensive marketing campaigns while reducing the financial burden for both parties. Reach is maximized, costs are minimized, and overall effectiveness is elevated. Can’t argue with that!
Strategic Partnerships Increase Value for Customers
When you think about brands partnering up and combining their strengths, it’s not just good for the brands but good for customers too. For instance, if teaming up leads to the creation of something that’s innovative or offers an enhanced service, customers of both brands reap the reward. The net effect of the brand collaboration is that both brands provide a better customer experience across the board, fostering loyalty and trust.
Strategic Partnerships Can Strengthen Weaknesses, Too
Every brand is unique and different in what it offers, how it approaches things, and so much more. Some brands may be weak in areas other brands tend to excel in.
When you can find a partner with an intersection between a weakness and a strength, it can be good news for both parties, because both brands can complement each other and balance out.
For instance, when you partner a fun and creative brand with a brand that’s tech savvy to create a product, the product tends to be more well-rounded and often resonates with a bigger audience than if the tech-savvy brand released a new product on its own.
Types of Brand Collabs to Consider
There are a few common types of brand partnerships to think about, though the first one may be one of the most common.
Collaborating to Create Co-Branded Products
One of the most common forms of brand collabs is joint product development. This is when two brands (or more) shack up to create a product that’s unique but that combines elements of each brand identity. Much like the peaches and cream soda by Barbie and Olipop.
Another strong example is Nike and Apple. The two giants merged tech and athletic apparel and have gone on to have a long-standing partnership, creating unique products reflective of both brands.
More recently, in a long line of brand collaborations, Crocs has partnered with Kellogg to release limited edition Frosted Flakes and Fruit Loops editions of their classic clog. The products are fun, capture the essence of both brands, and are a powerful marketing tool that reels in fans of both.
The beauty of co-branded campaigns is you’re combining the collective muscle and creativity of both brands behind the marketing, making the end result extremely impactful.
Collaborating to Create Content
This has become a popular method for brands to collaborate, especially over the last few years with the rise of influencer marketing. In a nutshell, it means brands partner up to create content that serves both audiences.
The content can be anything: videos, blogs, social media content, even podcasts. The point is to merge the expertise of both brands, so that they can offer their customers even more value.
This has grown even more popular since apps like TikTok came on the scene, introducing short-form video content to the masses and sparking fresh ideas on ways brands can work together.
Collaborating on Licensing and/or Distribution
Though maybe not as talked about as the other types of collars, both of these methods can be valuable ways for brands to collaborate.
Licensing involves one brand licensing the use of another brand’s assets to expand into new markets or create new product lines without starting from scratch.
Distribution involves one brand agreeing to distribute the products of another brand, typically with the goal of reaching new demographics or markets.
Take the well-known brand licensing collaboration between Monopoly and McDonald’s. It was so super successful, it’s been repeated over and over across the globe. It benefits both brands because Monopoly gains exposure, while McDonald’s increases engagement and sales without introducing unfamiliar game rules. When it works, it works beautifully!
Collaborating as a Joint Venture
This type of collaboration occurs when two brands create an entirely new entity and share the profits and resources for that entity. Think large-scale operations and international markets, along with collaborations not on a single product or campaign, but many over the long haul.
One example of this kind of collaboration can be seen with General Electric and Microsoft. They teamed up to create Caradigm, a new entity intended to improve the quality of healthcare and the patient experience using data.
How to Find the Right Collaboration Partner
To reap the rewards of a successful collaboration, choose your partner carefully. Below are a few tips to keep in mind.
- Make sure there’s alignment – shared goals and values are the ingredients that lead to success. Customers can smell inauthenticity from a mile away and will be turned off if you try to force a collaboration that simply isn’t meant to be.
- Use strengths to your advantage – every brand has their own unique qualities that make them special. When you can identify them and use them to create something even more special than anything you could do alone, you know you’re on the right track.
- Solve problems or fill gaps- don’t just market to look good on the ‘gram. Co-create thoughtfully and purposefully, so that you can offer your customers real value.
- Plan and communicate clearly—this is the backbone of successful collaborations. This means you’ll need to be clear about expectations and define roles clearly. Let everyone know what the goals are, and leave no room for misinterpretation. Aim to communicate with everyone involved on a regular basis so that any issues can be handled quickly and keep things on track.
- Be willing to track and adapt – some things will work, some won’t. But you won’t know if you’re not tracking and measuring. When something doesn’t seem to gel, it may be time to pivot so that the collaboration can continue to grow and remain strong.
Brand collabs aren’t just a marketing strategy, they truly are a super power when it comes to laying out a path to growth and success. When two brands share vision and alignment, the sky is the limit. What do you think? Is a brand collaboration right for your business?
