Brand Collaboration

The concept of Brand Collaboration can be defined as the strategic alliance between two or more brands for curating a unique and specific product or service with an intention to carve a niche and attain a competitive advantage at the marketplace. It is the modus operandi when two companies formulate a mutual alliance to work together creating a marketing and sales synergy that is beneficial for all the parties involved.

Brand Collaboration is one of the most crucial elements of the brand management and the overall business strategy of today’s times.

Why are companies opting for Brand Collaboration?

1. Over the last decade, the businesses have been exposed to the most dynamic and volatile conditions of the market with the changing government policies, evolving choices and preferences of the customers, and the ever-growing competition that has kept the sales and profits dipping towards the downward spiral.
2. The customer nowadays is quite aware and enlightened about the market conditions and the operations of the business owing to the power of social media and digital marketing. Plus they are presented with a lot of options and alternatives of the similar line of products and hence, the brands have been opting for the Brand Collaboration to present the new and innovative products to the customer.
3. Initially, it was the case that only the start-up companies were going for the route of Brand Collaboration as they required an impetus to their growth trajectory plus an attachment of a strong brand name with their company. But with the changing times and the business dynamics, even the established companies are opting for the Brand Collaboration to stay consistent in the competitive market and retain the loyal set of the customer base.
4. The brands that share the common goals, values, target market, and business objectives are most likely to come together for a strategic Brand Collaboration.

Examples of Brand Collaboration :

1) Ford and Tinder

Quite recently, the automobile car giant Ford had a unique Brand Collaboration with the hottest dating app of today’s time Tinder with an objective to promote its latest offerings to the young generation and enhancing the brand value and customer base. The collaboration involved selecting 5 couples for a carpool karaoke style blind date in their very famous offering Ford Mustang. The collaboration was indeed a successful attempt with both the brands benefiting from one another creating an identity in the market.

2) Nike and Apple

The sportswear brand Nike and the technology giant Apple are quite famous and enjoy the loyal customer base respectively but the basis of their Brand Collaboration was the result of sharing the common goals, the similar set of target audience, and the objective to offer something innovative and novel to the customers. And hence, since the early 2000’s, Nike and Apple have a strategic alliance of creating fitness trackers, mobile apps, sneakers, and other products that track the workout data and the daily activity of the fitness enthusiasts. As envisioned, the Brand Collaboration was an instant hit amongst their target audience.

3) Uber and Spotify

Uber is the very famous ride-hailing app and Spotify is the music streaming app and both the brands came forward for the Brand Collaboration as they share similar goals of innovation and cater to the same target audience. The customers waiting for their Uber ride to arrive were presented with the option of connecting to the Spotify and becoming a DJ for their trip by creating a playlist of their choice and enjoy the same during the course of the ride.

Advantages of Brand Collaboration:

1) Increased market share

When two brands come together with an objective of Brand Collaboration, the main objective is to share the expertise and offer the unique and innovative product to the customers that will help them gain the competitive edge and advantage in the market increasing the market share by manifolds. With the elevated market share, both the parties enjoy the higher return on investments and increased profits.

2) Knowledge Sharing

Every brand in the industry is expert and has knowledge resources on specific parameters but has to outsource or rely on the third parties on the elements and facets on which the brand lacks knowledge and proficiency.  Hence, the aspect of collaboration provides impetus to the factor of knowledge sharing that helps both the brands to enhance their creativity levels and come up with the product that is path-breaking in nature and ideation process utilizing their respective elements of knowledge and expertise.

3) Higher profits

The main and primal objective of any business is to generate higher revenues and profits by increasing the sales of products using various means and alternatives. And Brand Collaboration is one of the best strategic tools and mediums for the firm to gain the higher amount of profits as getting attached to the other powerful brand name through the alliance results in the enhanced brand value, reach and market share.

4) The widened base of customers

Both the brands that are coming together for the Brand Collaboration enjoy the huge base of customers and followers who are loyal to the brand and its various offerings. And the collaboration helps both the brands to widen their customer base as the target market and customers of both the brands are tapped with the common goals and motives of higher sales and elevated profits.

5) Increased brand reach

The Brand Collaboration not only grabs the eyeballs of the industry veterans, peers, and market insiders but the customer base of both the brands are equally excited about the outcome of the collaboration. The brands use the potent mix of traditional and modern media and marketing channels to make the customers aware of the alliance and what is in store for them.

Conclusion

As discussed earlier, in today’s dynamic markets and the ever-changing business scenarios, it is very important for the brands to survive and thrive in the market retaining the loyal set of customers by offering the products that are unique and innovative amidst the tough competition. And the business strategy of Brand Collaboration is the one of the best and go-to tool today.

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