Unexpected brand collaborations

Brand challenges need to be addressed in an integrated way with human-centric solutions. This results in unexpected brand partnerships, including between brand categories, allowing compelling brand stories to be told. 

The collaboration between Veuve Clicquot and Stella McCartney is one example. The two brands have partnered to shine a spotlight on pioneering women and create a better environment. With a grape-based alternative leather sourced from the champagne’s vineyard, McCartney created accessories including three iconic Frayme bags, a bottle holder housing a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label and two Elyse sandal designs featuring wedge made from recycled cork collected from Veuve Clicquot. The combination of what their consumers enjoy most — fashion and champagne — to drive a message around sustainability is smart and innovative.

Another good example is Red Bull Symphonic South Africa. The core of Red Bull’s positioning has been highlighting the clash of two worlds and creatively demonstrating what is possible when different worlds merge in unexpected harmony. Red Bull Symphonic South Africa — where amapiano meets classical music, featuring Kabza De Small, Ofentse Pitse and a symphonic orchestra — was recently announced. The event demonstrates the brand’s belief in its consumer passion point (music) and how that can be used to bring to life the brand’s energy in a modern and stylistic way.

Haircare brand Dark & Lovely has also been innovating and keeping up with the demands of consumers who often share hair loss experiences and struggle to find products they can use to fix this. After years of scientific research and finding the right formula, Dark & Lovely recently introduced the groundbreaking Pro Collection range, headlined by former Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi, to treat a receding hairline. What made this a great campaign is how it balanced between the functional and emotional connection with consumers and demonstrated tangible results. The Purple Range brand campaign revealed Wendy Gumede as the new face of the brand, illustrating that content creators are voices that matter for brands and the consumers they are speaking to in the digital era.

PepsiCo recently introduced a fresh logo and visual identity which speak to the brand’s next era of innovation, creativity and cultural resonance via a series of events. In Joburg, a digital installation transformed the Ponte Tower into a colossal Pepsi can, while in Cape Town, a virtual Pepsi can hovered over Cape Town Stadium, symbolically pouring Pepsi into the venue. Pepsi then collaborated with 947’s Anele and The Club to curate a live broadcast extravaganza at the Teatro Montecasino.

Maybelline has collaborated with airline Lift for its Lift Your Lashes Sky High campaign, which cleverly integrated two passion points of their consumers: beauty and travel. The Lift Your Lashes Sky High campaign started with a digital showcase featuring a CGI twist. The partnership aims to celebrate Maybelline’s Sky High mascara, bringing beauty enthusiasts and travel aficionados together.

To successfully achieve these kinds of brand collaborations, marketers have to understand what their brands stand for and how they can be used to creatively approach brand solutions and resonate with their extended target audience. What the collaborations mentioned above have in common is the desire to shift the conversation dial in unconventional ways. This requires bravery and embracing the unexpected. Brands that get it right will not only deliver on the bottom line but connect with their key target market.

* Khangelani Dziba is the group division head: PR & influencer partnerships at RAPT 

The big take-out: Brand collaborations have the potential to shift the conversation dial in unconventional ways.