What kind of brand collaboration is a marketing bomb?

What kind of brand collaboration can ignite market enthusiasm and create a halo effect? ​​This article answers everyone's questions from the perspective of how brand collaboration drives attention and how to create a craze. Let's take a look!

Brand co-branding is to overlap the domain sets of two brands to maximize the communication power.

What kind of brand collaboration can attract attention?

In this era of hot topics, brand collaborations seem to have long lost their marketing power. However, Heytea’s recent collaborations caused the official mini-program to be overcrowded and crash. Not only did it cause consumers to post pictures and make jokes on social media, it also prompted Lei Jun to post an order on Weibo.

The joint collaboration between Heytea and luxury brand Fendi is a marketing bomb. With the launch of a joint drink, a matching yellow paper cup, coaster and badge, and a handbag printed with the Fendi English logo, it has triggered a screen-sweeping spread.

What’s even more amazing is that not only is the message spread effectively, but it can also cause offline store products to sell out quickly and the co-branded packaging to be out of stock, gaining both fame and fortune. This kind of brand co-branding can be said to be the ceiling of co-branding.

So, what strategies do brands need to adopt to ignite market enthusiasm and create a halo effect? ​​And what marketing insights are hidden behind the collaboration?

1. Attention-driven brand collaboration

To understand how co-branding attracts people’s attention, we need to analyze the attention drivers behind it. In this regard, there are several key points to note.

1. Sparks of Collision

Uniqueness and freshness are the key to brand co-branding. Co-branding activities often bring unique experiences and new elements. This new combination of old elements attracts people's attention. Compared with traditional marketing activities, brand co-branding is more likely to arouse consumers' interest and curiosity by creating novelty and unique experiences, and inspire them to actively participate in and spread activities.

This spark is not only the collision between brands or products, but also the collision between people behind them. Different groups of people meet and connect through brand cross-border behavior, and the collision of different consumption behaviors, consumption concepts, lifestyles, etc. arouses the interest and freshness of the user group.

2. Breaking the Boundary

Brand co-branding activities can break through traditional boundaries and organically bring brands from different fields together. This cross-border collision creates a strong attraction and impact, sparking people's curiosity and expectations for co-branding cooperation.

Through joint activities, two originally unrelated brands have combined their respective characteristics and advantages to form new products and experiences. Such innovation and breakthroughs often trigger heated discussions and attention in the market.

3. Social Vitality

The communication power of social media is also an important factor in the success of brand co-branding. Nowadays, social media has become an important platform for people to obtain information, share opinions and interact. Brand co-branding activities are easy to cause heated discussions on social media. People will spread the information of co-branding activities by sharing pictures, comments, forwarding, etc., thereby further expanding the exposure of the brand.

Through the communication power of social media, brand co-branding activities can be spread more widely, attracting more attention and attention. The essence of brand co-branding is actually to overlap the domain sets of two brands to maximize the communication power.

2. Creating a boom in brand collaboration

The joint collaboration between Heytea and the luxury brand Fendi has undoubtedly created a wave of attention. The overlapping of the domains of the two brands has ignited people's attention. So, what makes people so enthusiastic?

The influence of a brand co-branding depends on the size of the two brand domain sets, on the one hand, and the attention-driving ability of the overlapping parts, on the other hand. The size of the brand domain set is self-evident. Large brands are more likely to attract attention in terms of crowd attention, reputation, and resources.

I will focus on the second aspect, which is how to make the overlapping parts more powerful. Specifically, the following key strategies need to be considered.

1. Conflict size

The difference in brand tone is the key to creating conflict. Choosing partners that complement or contrast with your own brand tone can bring greater impact and appeal to joint activities. Because the difference in tone gives more room for interpretation and discussion, it is easier to stimulate discussion on social platforms.

As an everyday tea drink, Heytea has collaborated with luxury brand Fendi, which has attracted many people's attention because it makes luxury goods within easy reach. Comments such as "I paid a full amount of just over ten yuan, this is the closest I've ever been to FENDI" and "I didn't expect that my first Fendi was given by Heytea" are the best evidence of the conflict.

Behind this conflict is actually the creation of social currency and the satisfaction of the expansion of people's consumption needs, which can stimulate the established groups to post their orders and spread them virally.

2. Connectivity

Cross-border marketing requires the degree of connection between users in all domains. This wave of collaboration by Heytea not only makes existing users feel proud, but also attracts fans, which can expand its audience and attract more new consumers to enter the brand ecosystem, thereby enhancing brand influence and boosting sales. At the same time, Fendi also vigorously promoted the "FENDI 'hand in hand' ingenuity art exhibition" through collaboration, allowing more people to learn about the brand's activities.

Connecting people is one aspect, and connecting products is also key.

This time, a co-branded beverage "set" was launched, which uses three yellow fruits, mango, orange and passion fruit, and green tea to make a co-branded beverage. The "FENDI Joy Yellow" draws on the classic yellow DNA of FENDI, and the cups and handbags are also unified in Fendi yellow. Not only did the product sell out immediately after it was launched, but the co-branded product packaging also set off a buying boom on second-hand platforms, with a set of "coast mat + paper bag + badge + cup cover" priced at nearly 100 yuan.

Therefore, the design of the co-branded style should be carefully crafted, integrating the characteristics and elements of both brands to create a unique product image. Through unique design, brand co-branded products can better attract consumers' attention and purchasing desire, thereby promoting sales and brand value.

3. Scarcity Level

Scarcity and limited quantity are also key factors in the success of brand co-branding. Limited sales and scarcity can stimulate consumers' desire to buy and a sense of urgency, bringing higher popularity and attention to brand co-branding activities.

HEYTEA has always been good at cross-border collaborations and is a master at creating rare products. Since 2017, HEYTEA has launched cross-border collaborations many times, and the collaborations are never the same. The areas covered include gaming and e-sports, catering consumption, film and television culture, clothing, cosmetics, etc. We are familiar with the United States Peacebird, Durex, L'Oreal, Adidas, iQiyi, Dove, QQ Music and more than a hundred other brands have cooperated with HEYTEA.

Consumers are often willing to queue up and buy unique co-branded products. This scarcity and limited quantity further increase the value and appeal of co-branded products.

Brand co-branding activities are a marketing method full of creativity and opportunities. By breaking through traditional boundaries and cooperation, brands can attract market attention and enthusiasm, open up people's imagination of the brand, and allow the brand to have longer-lasting brand vitality.

Author: Little Monk Kunkun

Source: WeChat public account "Marketing Zen Institute (ID: mandcx)"