It is important for brands to keep their customers excited, and collaborations can be the perfect way to do so.
What’s better than your two favorite brands releasing new products? Your two favorite brands collaborating and releasing a product together. Tons of brands, both big and small, have joined forces to release new lines of products or to give their customers an unforgettable experience. Collaborating is a great way to keep customers excited and stay relevant in the crowded atmosphere of brands.
When brands collaborate, they often create an exclusive or limited-edition line of products. This exclusivity can come in the form of products that are only available for a certain amount of time or with limited quantity. Exclusivity is valuable for both brands as it adds a sense of eliteness to the products that leads to high demand from the customers. These collaborations also give both brands a more diverse customer base, as they gain access to the customers of the brand they partner with in addition to their own. This provides increased exposure for both brands, making collaborations desirable for everyone involved.
With an ample amount of brands to choose from, it can be difficult to navigate which will create a successful collaboration. There are many factors to look at in understanding a brand: their target audience, their mission, their types of products, or even where they’re located. By understanding and prioritizing different features, it is easier to determine which brands would make strong collaborations, and why.
Promoting Their Purpose
Brands that share a similar mission or purpose produce great collaborations because their values align. Whether their mission is to raise money for charitable events or to raise awareness around specific causes, these brands can link up and create a meaningful line of products together. By combining their creativity, they can direct both customer bases’ attention toward their missions for further exposure. This allows brands to appeal to many consumers as being extremely authentic by partnering with like-minded individuals to create something greater than themselves. PANGAIA is a streetwear brand that is made from completely recycled materials, and with every purchase, PANGAIA plants, protects, or restores a tree. Costa Brazil is a health and beauty brand that is good for the mind, body, and earth. Their products are made from all-natural ingredients and are sold in sustainable packaging. Recently, PANGAIA and Costa Brazil collaborated on a line of streetwear clothing where 100% of the profits went toward Amazon Forever, a fund that brings aid to indigenous communities of the Amazon Rainforest. This collaboration made both brands appear authentic and philanthropic, as they remained true to their missions while gaining customers through a new line of clothing.
Unveil The Unexpected
Brands that don’t outwardly align and think completely out-of-the-box can create successful collaborations. The reason for this is the immense amount of buzz generated around such an interesting and unique collaboration. If brands have little in common, people want to know why they decided to collaborate, what their product will be, and if it will actually be successful. The buzz around the collaboration is positive and beneficial for both brands as it generates excitement and publicity for their partnership and products. In 2015, Apple, one of the largest technology companies in the world, and Hermès, a French, high-fashion luxury goods company, joined together to create Apple Watch® Hermès, a new collection of Apple Watch bands in distinctive styles from Hermès. There was so much curiosity around this partnership that led to the exhilaration and anticipation of it. This thrill is still prevalent today, as last year Pierre-Alexis Dumas (executive vice-president and artistic director for Hermès) and Jony Ive (chief design officer for Apple) traveled to Japan, the midway point between both company homes, to create yet another line of products together. The new products, as well as this private meeting between the two companies, created so much buzz that developed into enthusiasm for both companies. This partnership was created 5 years ago and is still beneficial for both companies from both a monetary and publicity standpoint. These two brands that initially had no association with one another now have a powerful, long-lasting collaboration.
Attracting Similar Audiences
Different brands that appeal to the same types of customers can come together to create something that their customers are guaranteed to love. Brands can attract new customers within their current customer demographic by partnering with a brand that has a similar audience but a different product or service. Customers will not be lost from either brand because their products’ target audiences align. This promotes awareness and growth for both companies, making for a successful collaboration. For example, Juicy Couture, a luxury women’s clothing brand, and Kappa, a luxury athleisure brand, both appeal to middle-upper class women. Although they individually create different types of clothing, they were able to create a joint collection that still appeals to their major audience. In result, Kappa customers are likely to become Juicy Couture customers, and vice versa. Kappa x Juicy Couture hosted a pop-up experience at one of popshop’s spaces to launch this clothing line and invited their customers to experience both brands coming together.
Successful collaborations are made possible when creative, innovative, and motivated brands join forces to produce something new, unique, and exciting. Customers are constantly expecting more from their favorite brands, and a collaboration can be what is needed for this “something more.” Collaborations never fail to both delight and excite customers, so brands should be eager to take advantage of such opportunities.
At popshop, we strive to promote these collaborations. With the community feature on our website and app, brands can message others in the popshop community to gain insights about what they’re doing next. Brands can discuss creative ideas amongst like-minded individuals and even use one of our spaces to collaborate and release a new product. If you are looking to join our community and collaborate with us, check it out here.
What brands do you want to see collaborate?
by Brielle Hoffman
Popshop is here to help you every step of the way. Popshop offers tons of spaces ready to be customized by your brand. Choose a space, join the community, and take your brand to the next level with a pop-up store.
