Brands have always been taught to stay in their own lane. In this world, understanding your customer’s relationship to your brand and your brand only is the only insight that should matter – right?
Well, looking back at 2023, this couldn’t be more wrong. And after another record year for brand collaborations, clear from the cultural momentum around Barbie alone, there is an even greater urgency for brands to understand and appreciate their interconnectedness.
Instigated by the democratisation of advertising, the modern consumer doesn’t compartmentalise their brand interactions. A person’s experience with a streaming service like Netflix can indeed influence their perception of other unrelated products, like yogurt or clothing brands – Euphoria’s influence on the rapid expansion of the Y2K fashion trend is just one example. And, subconsciously or not, the modern consumer is more likely to shop from brands that share their cultural and political worldview.
According to a YouGov opinion poll, 73% of Gen Z consumers like products that reflect their lifestyles. So, in this interconnected world, the importance of understanding what defines your audience’s entire brand universe, rather than just what your direct relationship with them is, is more paramount than ever.
This trend is most magnified on defining issues such as sustainability. Is it unsurprising that a consumer who values sustainability in their clothing choices might also seek eco-friendly options in their food or tech purchases?
Teach a man to fish
But in a world where brands are becoming more homogenous at every turn and are collaborating at a rate of knots, unearthing the unique human insights that connect your audience’s favourite brands is key.
Often this discovery of consumer truth is what powered some of the greatest collaborations last year – think Palace and Ugg, Absolut and Heinz or Patagonia’s instrumental role in creating the Sustainable Apparel Coalition.
To the untrained eye, these might seem like random flashpoints in a brand’s marketing calendar, designed to shock rather than appeal. But if you dig deeper, they all stem from a core commonality.
Be it understanding that food and drink are more connected experiences than ever, or that a brand actually shares a common hatred for the perils of overconsumption. The instigators of what makes us shop among certain brands are plain to see and brands should be open minded and porous to new collaborations, if they are to keep pace with the ever diversifying brand universe.
Brand collaborations were a highlight in many of our marketing year wrap-ups, but is their legacy greater than the sum of their Instagram likes? By that I mean, are brands choosing to work together, exactly what the world needs more of in 2024? At Cop28, the message from scientists and world leaders remained one of collaboration.
A welcome contrast to the lethargy of modern politics, brands play a powerful role in shepherding consumers through the murky waters of giant systemic problems like the climate emergency. It is the sum of their parts that will count more than ever in 2024.
This kind of deeper, more meaningful brand collaboration I would argue is the blueprint for brand collaborations in 2024.
Mike Barcroft is innovation strategist at Cream
