Why Do Brands Blend Industries?
Understanding the evolving consumer of food, fashion, and furniture.
When brands collaborate to produce a product or service that combines two of their unique selling points into one, it can also be known as cross-branding. This is now a popular method for companies to create waves in their respective industries. Different combinations result in different outcomes, allowing for endless possibilities.
One example is LOEWE's collection of luxury bags printed with Studio Ghibli's animated characters .The animation studio's cult following is an example of how luxury brands generate excitement when they fuse themselves with elements of pop culture that already have an established perception by their target market. LOEWE's Creator Director Jonathan Anderson notes that Studio Ghibli's illustrations 'exemplify the power of craft as a bridge between the old and the new, a creative approach that LOEWE is proud to share.' Here, both brands can be seen as engaging with the 'evolving pop culture landscape.
Another example is Nike's globally beloved Air Force 1 shoe merging with high-end jewellery brand Tiffany & Co. These two brands have respectively built a loyal fanbase with clear boundaries that value different types of cultural capital. The final output is a quizzical marriage of Nike's urban, street currency and Tiffany & Co's elegance and opulence. Is this a balanced collaboration? Does one brand overpower another?
Whether or not the production of this shoe successfully drove sales for either company, the internet's fascination with this collaboration became the object of many shareable articles and social media posts, in other words, the birth of a viral sensation.
Unlikely duos never fail to gain the attention of a wider audience, but such excitement can only be predicted when the respective parties have an established reputations. The more extreme the reputations are, the jarring the combination, and thus, many find themselves loving to hate, or hating to love, the love-child of such brands.
Has a brand collaboration ever provoked a strong reaction out of you?
