All You Need To Know About Brand Collaborations In 2022
In the month that Greggs announced its largest ever café would be opening in Birmingham in no other than Primark, then brought out its very own sell-out clothing line to seal the deal, it would appear that truly anything is possible. Today on the blog, we discuss brand collaborations, the best examples of them and whether they’ll work for your business.
Are Brand Collaborations A New Thing?
Brand collaborations are when two businesses team up together to create something – that can be an awareness campaign, a product line, or something else. ‘Opposites attract’ is a phrase that would work well here, as often the most outlandish partnerships are the ones that get the most attention.
They aren’t a new thing, but they’re certainly becoming more adventurous.
Examples Of Recent Brand Collaborations That Worked Well
My favourite brand collaborations are the ones where both businesses come together for the greater good, such as…
- Not exactly a collaboration with just one brand, but I loved when Tesco put the pubs first and encouraged shoppers to grab a pint from their local instead of running offers on their own alcohol, after understanding how much support these businesses needed post-lockdown.
Credit: Reddit
But I also love the downright nonsensical collaborations, that you’d never think work, but they actually really do!
- Recently North Face teamed up with Gucci and chose Francis Bourgeois to be their cover boy for a new clothing drop. This campaign collided three completely different worlds and brought them together in perfect harmony. The public went mad for it, especially the TikTok community, where Francis started out as a creator. This stands to be a great example of how to reach new audiences and why daring and bold marketing stunts pay off.
View this post on Instagram
Examples Of Recent Brand Collaborations That Failed
Partnerships don’t always go well, and in my opinion, some that have failed include…
- Colin Vs. Cuthbert, which may not have been a collaboration at all… But, there are some, especially us sceptics within marketing, who think the whole caterpillar court case was just a marketing stunt, devised by both brands. However, in my opinion, all it did was leave both brands worse off – M&S ended up looking a little sour suing over a cake, whereas Aldi arguably took things too far bringing charity into the dispute.
- Kendall Jenner and Pepsi, McLaren and Honda, and more! You can read about those on our recent blog on co-marketed collaborations that went wrong.
Will A Brand Collaboration Work For Your Business In 2022?
If you want a brand collaboration to work for you, then, yes, you can make it happen. You just need to find a business that’ll complement yours, whether that’s because you share similar values, or are complete opposites! Think of what will create a dynamic partnership and why – then the rest will become history.
Brand collaborations can be big or small, and they’ll work as hard as you want them to. Whether it’s teaming up with a charity or causation to work together on something you care about, or getting heads together with another business – or even a competitor – to get people talking about; there is something that can be achieved for every company if you put your mind to it.
At Source PR, we’re currently working with eco-baby brand Pura in Cheshire, who have teamed up with Welsh-based company NappiCycle for a number of initiatives; one of which includes re-paving a road in Wales with recycled nappies. This collaboration has already attracted coverage in the BBC on the radio and on the TV, alongside ITV News, Daily Mail, Daily Star, Independent, plenty of regionals and other trade publications, and even in the Washington Post, for our friends overseas to read all about!
This just goes to show that the right partnership can be perfect for your brand! We’re looking forward to seeing what else 2022 has to bring for brand collaborations.
Photo by Julia Avamotive from Pexels
