The New Magic Word for Branding is Collaborations

BEN SCHOTT: Brand collaborations
used to be sparing,

targeted, special even.

But now we see a feeding
frenzy of tactical virality

based on one magic symbol.

Balmain and Barbie?

Sure.

Zara and everlast?

Why not?

Veuve Clicquot and Yayoi Kusama?

Come on in.

The clicks are lovely.

No collaboration is too kooky.

No partnership too wacky in
this patchwork harlequinade.

But why do brands collaborate?

The most obvious
answer is the magic

that happens when
brands co-mingle fans.

When Taco Bell joined
forces with Frito Lay,

they sold $1 billion of Doritos
locos tacos in 14 months.

Similarly, the Collab
Artois between Yeezy, Gap

and Balenciaga created
a presence far greater

than the sum of its
already great parts.

Much of this is driven by
media and social media,

for whom collaborations are
catnip, especially when,

as startling as liquid
death skateboards

painted with Tony Hawk's blood.

And then there is
the network effect,

exemplified by James
Bond product placements,

where mid-level brands like
Toyota and Heineken bask

in the glory not just of 007,
but of luxury marks like Aston

Martin and Bollinger.

How brands collaborate
is equally fascinating.

There are the high-low
collaborations popularized

in the '90s by Target, which
created masstige collections

with everyone, from Missoni
to Victoria Beckham.

There are strawberries
and cream collaborations

when, say, Nike
supplies the shoes,

but Apple tracks the steps.

Or when Red Bull
provides the energy,

but GoPro captures the proof.

There are tastebud
collaborations

that monkey with our senses,
like Coffee-Mate and Snickers

or Coca-Cola Tic Tacs.

There are digital
divide collaborations,

where analog brands
join with next-gen tech,

like Gucci and Xbox, or Yves
Saint Laurent and Google.

There are beachhead
collaborations

that introduce new shampoos
to unsuspecting hotel guests,

or tempt fast food
carnivores to experiment

with plant-based proteins.

And finally, there are shock
and guffaw collaborations

championed by
Supreme, which seems

to be on a quasi-periodic
quest to see

if there is anything it can
co-brand that won't sell out

in seconds.

Collaborations
are going nowhere,

not just because they add
to the gaiety of nations,

but because they work.

The cleverest and most
viral collaborations

don't merely add value,
they multiply it.

And this is why, of all the
characters on the keyboard,

this cross may be
branding's most lucrative.

For collaboration
leads to fascination,

which in turn leads on to cash.

I'm Ben Schott, the branding
and advertising columnist

for Bloomberg Opinion.