Why should brands 'Collab'?

Recently FC Barcelona unveiled their new Jersey kit featuring Spotify & Drake. In a first of a king sponsorship move dubbed "an artist spotlight kit", this move not only blurs boundaries between different streams of pop culture, but also demonstrates tremendous brand courage, confidence & vision.

I've always been an advocate of unorthodox brand moves, especially collaborations. There's no denying that when two brands announce a partnership, whether you're a fan of them or not, there is an excitement in anticipation of what the outcome will be.

The beauty of brand collabs is that they don't necessarily have to come from within the same industry, in fact the more unlikely the nature of the partnership is, the more likely it will get more attention. But why should brands collaborate?

Double Audiences:

Who would've thought the realms Cheetos and Forever 21 would ever intersect? From accessories to swimwear, the two brands came together to create a 'Fiyah' collection based on a shared target audience.

Stay relevant:

Another brand that's no stranger to collaboration, the LEGO Group who frequently collaborates with Media companies to release sets based on popular films. Recently they collaborated with Netflix to release a Stranger Things set based on the duality of the two realms seen in the show.

Leverage clout:

Sometimes the desire is to mutually extend brand clout, by leveraging the power of the other brand. In the case of Louis Vuitton x Supreme, their collaboration sold out almost immediately. With streetwear becoming increasingly popular, this partnership made sense for an esteemed and traditional luxury brand such as Louis Vuitton to gain some street cred, and Supreme, a recently established skateboarding and clothing company to gain some luxury points. Same goes for the recent adidas x Gucci Collaboration.

Unexpected PR:

And then there's unlikely collaborations that are not technically not collaborations, like when eternal fast food rivals McDonald's and Burger King came together in Argentina, where Mc'Donalds was raising money for childhood cancer by donating proceeds from Big Mac sales for an entire day throughout the country. Burger king followed suite and jumped on board by halting their Whopper sales during that day as well in an event called "A day without Whopper".

The benefits of collaboration are many, from the obvious recognition aspect due to fan bases and worlds colliding, doubling audiences for both brands, making more money for both parties involved, to simply leveraging the strengths one brand brings to the table that the other brand may not have, such as resources, media access, distribution or production.

As you give this song a play: https://lnkd.in/ewqAbvWE

What brands would you like to see collaborate together?