Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating a great match. Brands often fly solo, taking their full share of the spotlight. However, when brands come together, that’s often when something magical can happen. Brand partnerships can capture the public’s imagination and get people talking, allowing brands to share audience networks and build their authority in a potentially untapped market. Here are some of our favourite examples of when brands come together and share the love…
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Smells like success
Who wants to smell like Marmite? Well, if you do, Lynx Africa Marmite is a strong option. The unique collaboration between Lynx and Marmite created a genuine product – deodorant and body wash with hints of Marmite. The brands came together to deliver a suite of striking aesthetics, with a tone of voice stating the product is “for the lovers”.
There’s no doubt about it – this campaign wasn’t for everyone. It did, however, attract plenty of attention and enjoyed widespread media coverage.
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All the brands get the party started
Aldi was always going to celebrate its 30th birthday in style. In a series of hilarious tweets, Aldi tried to drum up interest for its virtual birthday party. The Twitter team invited major brands to join in, with social media managers across the world rejoicing at the chance to flex their reactive marketing muscles. The thread attracted light-hearted responses from Waitrose & Partners, Co-op, Iceland and many more – much to the delight of Twitter users everywhere.
What’s particularly special about this campaign was that it gave each brand the opportunity to shout out loud and proud about their product. Asos discussed party outfits, Krispy Kreme suggested bringing a donut tower, CIF were down for bringing cleaning products… the list goes on. Some of the world’s leading brands joined in to solidify their place as part of the “in” crowd.
The low-budget campaign showed just what can be achieved from a sprinkling of creativity and the collaboration of great brands.
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A tasty team
The Greggs and PlayStation food box offer gave gamers the perfect treat to enjoy while unboxing their new console. The £5 meal deal included everything multi-players need to fuel up before a gaming session. Greggs even recreated Playstation’s iconic symbols in pastry products – solidifying the partnership as a real 2020 highlight.
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Airbnb “Hearts” Flipboard
The all-new Flipboard app gave users the opportunity to be immersed in curated content based on their specific interests. As part of the app’s promotion, Flipboard teamed up with Airbnb to help drive awareness and engagement, with users encouraged to explore Airbnb Experiences through content found on Flipboard. The partnership worked thanks to mutual appreciation of delivering great content focussed on specific interests and experiences.
Adding an incentive also helped the campaign’s success, as users who “heart” any stories featuring Airbnb Experiences were entered to win. This encouraged people to actively engage in the campaign.
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Rivals reap rewards
McDonalds and Burger King have been long-standing rivals for years. Yet, in the quest for brand collaboration, Burger King seems to always come out victorious. Its attempt to join forces in 2015 was quickly rebuffed by McDonald’s CEO (prompting widespread criticism). Burger King was not going to be deterred! It’s “a day without a Whopper” campaign saw Burger King stop selling its famous Whopper burger for one day. They even directed customers to McDonalds where sales of every Bic Mac burger raised money for Children With Cancer.
Even unrequited love can reap big rewards for brands who take the leap.
The benefits of brand collaborations
Sharing is caring! Collaborations result in both brands gaining access to a much wider audience. Brand recognition is invaluable and by getting it right, companies will experience enhanced brand affinity and loyalty too. This ultimately boosts sales revenue as new customers are introduced.
Brand partnerships are only successful when the collaboration is authentic and completely in-line with a brand’s messaging and values. If the partnership isn’t a good fit, it just isn’t going to work. As our examples show, getting it right might take months of planning, but it’s worth it if the collaboration gets people talking and boosts the reputation of both brands.
Which brand partnerships have caught your eye and sparked your inspiration?
We’d love to find out. Head over to our Twitter or LinkedIn pages and share your thoughts.