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THE MONTH'S MOST REMARKABLE COLLABORATIONS,
BRAND EXTENSIONS AND SPECIAL EDITIONS:


HIGHER PURPOSE
SEASONAL INGREDIENTS
SECOND-LAYER STORYTELLING

 
Happy 2019 and welcome to a new year packed with brand innovation possibilities…and expectations!

The coming period holds many challenges in store, not least on the innovation front, after 2018 saw shifts in power, bigger campaigns, and a fragmentation of the methods brands use to connect their products to culture.
 
It was a year that broke the myth that the collaboration generation is a private club of elites and eccentrics. Unprecedented numbers of high street retailers, mainstream media and latecomer brands invested in creating and promoting featured products and services. “Collaboration” became a household name.
 
With familiarity comes contempt, meaning that, in 2019, brands will have to sharpen their game to earn attention and avoid market indifference. How? By working smarter or spending more.
 
Many will end up spending more, distracted by the temptation to create a splash rather than put forward persuasive ideas. For those planning on working smarter, Collaboration Generation will continue to promote ideas that rely on frequency, originality and strategic purpose to generate value. Those who decide to do nothing will be relying on their own charisma to stand out in an overcrowded landscape.
 
Wishing you a healthy, successful (and innovative) year!

THEME: HIGHER PURPOSE

Primavera Sound c/o Pull&Bear

Pull&Bear’s announcement last month that it will use dedicated fashion collections to elevate its engagement with the world-famous Primavera Sound festival promises to generate significant value for both brands.
 
As well as lending substance to both names, it’s encouraging to see the Inditex chain continuing to get behind powerful, contemporary Spanish content like Primavera Sound, Rosalía and Marc Marquez to build definition, exclusivity and independence into its global image.
 
Even more significant is the fact that both brands intend to make the new partnership central to their sustainability policies. Against a backdrop where young consumers are suspicious of corporations appropriating their cultural treasures, both have recognised the efficiency of creating a platform that conveys purpose and community values as well as new shopping opportunities.

Barbie x PUMA

When PUMA teased an end-of-year release with Barbie back in May, Instagram squealed with delight. But in a year packed with special editions – not least for PUMA’s own 50th anniversary of its Suede silhouette – it seemed like little more than another cutesy sneaker novelty.
 
But by the time of the release’s arrival, it was clear that PUMA had grander ambitions for the pop icon. Besides the obligatory shoe styles, a five-piece, adult-facing Barbie fitness collection offered a fresh, distinctive voice within the saturated athleisure landscape. PUMA’s collection taps into the inner girl by leaning into deeper Barbie archetypes like dressing up and accessorising rather than an obvious pop styling.
 
But the coup de grâce came in the form of a pair of Barbie Signature collectible dolls outfitted in PUMA gear. An additional, limited edition sneaker + doll bundle sold out instantly. 2018 was a year when female sneakerheads began to catch up with males – and this was yet another point that PUMA was able to address with its shrewd campaign management.

THEME: SEASONAL INGREDIENTS

Throughout the Halloween to Christmas period, food and gourmet brands are well known for changing up their formula. Seasonal flavours, special packaging and bundled gifts are common techniques that brands rely on to create an elevated experience.
 
But away from the grocery aisle, the end-of-year season is a time when lifestyle brands too are more likely to remix familiar formulas with exotic ingredients. During these months, many different rituals and messages play on consumers’ minds and their propensity to buy is in flux. Alternating ingredients is a better innovation strategy in these months than at any other time of the year.
 
Seasonal objectives differ by category. In apparel and fashion accessories, attention goes to fabrics and components made to cope with tough conditions. Sustainability messages are also a clear priority for softgoods brands. Sophisticated durables tend to look to luxurious finishes and services to appeal to heightened indulgence. Single-use products tend to use bundled items to evoke a sense of gifting and sentimentalism.
 
The following selection of projects shows the kinds of programmes that garnered attention during the last weeks of 2018.
The North Face Purple Label x Harris Tweed; Izipizi x Woolrich; NFL x '47 x Carhartt x Mossy Oak; Carhartt WIP x Loro Piana
Felder Felder x Ecoalf; Helmut Lang x Parley for the Oceans; Secrid x Freitag; Barneys x exKite
FIAT 500 x Repetto x Poltrona Frau; Bremont x Concorde; Bearbrick x fragment design x Baccarat; Harmon/Kardon x Kvadrat
aesop x Rimowa; Champagne Krug x Devialet; Remy Martin x Just Don; Rimowa x Skyhour

THEME: SECOND-LEVEL STORYTELLING

Star Wars x Columbia Sportswear

Columbia first entered into a license with Star Wars just as market hype around the franchise peaked in early 2016. Some years later, interest in the property has – like the movies – waned, and the premise for an outdoor brand to use it appears even flimsier than when it began.
 
But a single product release in December did a great favour to the vitality and value of both brands by getting under the skin of the science fiction saga. Launched through select stores, Columbia’s $500 Empire Crew Parka replicates the performance jackets worn by the film-crew in the making of the iconic Hoth scenes from 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.
 
Practically everyone who has ever fallen under the spell of Star Wars also knows its vast behind-the-scenes content. It was this knowledge that makes Colombia’s Empire Crew Parka so exciting and engaging. In an instant, thousands of wary fans recognised that Star Wars could be fresh and exciting again. For Columbia, it showed licenses are most valuable when they demonstrate cultural flair and call attention to a brand’s core proposition.

Creed II x Nike

The companies that cluster around major film releases are, these days, increasingly eclectic and valuable. Perhaps the best example is James Bond, which regularly succeeds in getting prestigious brands to commercialise products that seem like true extensions of his fictional universe.
 
While the public has become a little indifferent to consumer brands activating around movie properties, there is a certain expectation for exclusive product releases to be part the PR cycle of blockbuster movies. Nike’s latest movie activation is next-level, and continues a recent trend of brands entering into movie universes rather than simply merchandising around them.
 
For Creed II, the sports giant created a signature training range based on the movie’s main character, Adonis Creed. Giving a fictitious character the same sort of gravitas as its real-world athletes, Nike offered a different kind of escapism by subverting its own clichés.
THANKS FOR READING AND SHARING!
 

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