Lately, you might have seen the Greggs x Primark collaboration and thought to yourself…
Why on earth would they do that?
Well, let us tell you why so many brands jump on the ‘collab train’ and how you can utilise it for your business….
First things first, what is collaborative marketing?
By doing so, both brands can take advantage of each other’s company’s assets, resources, funds and most importantly, audience to reach new business and marketing goals. This can be through many different mediums, such as partnership marketing, brand partnership, cooperative advertising, Instagram collaborations, referral marketing and even joint advertising.
Sound strange to you?
It shouldn’t, collaborative marketing is everywhere around us! If you’re an avid scroller on Instagram, we can guarantee that you’re going to stumble across two brands collaborating with each other in a matter of minutes.
So why should businesses use collaborative marketing?
It’s simple. Collaborative marketing helps businesses widen their reach, add authenticity, and be seen as a more trusted and recommended business.
Building trust and long-term support is just as important as reaching as many new audiences as possible, for new and upcoming businesses to grow and survive in the business world. For established businesses, collaborative marketing aids in tapping into new networks to grow audiences as well as establish a deeper connection with their existing clientele.
Collaborative marketing is also beneficial in terms of cutting marketing costs as it is split between both (or multiple) businesses. Your business can also benefit from all combined expertise – as they say two heads are better than one
Our Favourite Examples of Collaborative Marketing
Greggs x Primark
Greggs teamed up with fashion giant Primark to launch a limited-edition clothing line – yes, that’s right, everyone’s favourite baker and high street store brought out a Greggs themed clothing line!
According to Greggs’ Business Development Manager, Raymond Reynolds,
Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, It didn’t last long in some stores, with the clothing selling out within minutes, leaving many shoppers disappointed.
The 11-piece collection, comprised of logo T-shirts, sliders, sweatshirts, and hoodies and accessories which included sausage roll-printed socks and reversible bucket hats.
The pre-launch to the partnership was executed with a truly unique teaser campaign. It included mannequins at several Primark stores across the UK being styled with Greggs Vegan Sausage Rolls and Steak Bakes, added into pockets.
Primark’s social media account also mysteriously displayed a Greggs receipt alongside a quizzical emoji. The hype was to create impact for the launch of a planned fashion line on 19th February. They also set up a new café at Birmingham’s flagship Primark branch touted to be “world’s most Instagrammable Greggs” which opened on the 22nd of February 2022.
The energetic launch video to announce the partnership promised: “One does tidy food; one does tidy fashion. Together we’re unstoppable.”
It would seem the general opinion is that Greggs represents something iconic itself, a cultural tribute to a high street hangover survival staple, which people are happy to champion. Greggs and Primark are a fusion of two national treasures . Which is why this collaboration was a sell out!!!
IKEA x Sonos
IKEA and Sonos created the – SYMFONISK.
This collaboration shouldn’t work but it really does!
By creating a product by two different brands that, at first, you don’t think will work well together, but it turns out to be something unique, special, and even better than you could image, certainly gets people taking,
It really gets people talking and asking…
‘Why hasn’t this been done before?
Usually, these brands are at opposite ends of the spectrum:
To put things into more perspective…
You can purchase 3 ‘Billy’ bookcases from IKEA for the price of Sonos’ cheapest speaker!!
Therefore, the collaboration was a genius move from both brands as they came together to create an affordable speaker that doubles as a piece of furniture (Mind blown )
The product has all the benefits of a Sonos speaker for an IKEA price. This is a win for customers, and for both brands.
Why?
Let us break it down:
- Customers get affordable access to a product
- IKEA builds brand loyalty by offering something truly special
- Sonos have a loss-leader (A loss leader strategy involves selling a product at a price that is not profitable, but is sold to attract new customers or sell other products) that creates potential future customers
- Both receive positive brand associationfrom the other
There was also endless tech-industry hype about these products, with many publications speaking about this collab.
Speakers have become a normal part of our home furnishings. So, this collaboration made real marketing sense for both brands. And customers seemed to agree.
Burger King x McDonald’s
Collaborating with your competitor?
We know this sounds totally crazy but two of the biggest fast-food chains did it and it was an instant success!
This collaboration is an example of how you can align with your fiercest competitor within the same niche and having similar products to (gasp!) promote each other’s brands to resounding success. It’s easy to be a sceptic, but the marketing teams for both McDonald’s and Burger King came up with a fresh and clever angle that the public lapped up with considerable enthusiasm.
Burger King in Argentina decided to take their top-selling Whopper off their menu for a day to convince customers to buy McDonald’s instead. This was to support a McDonald’s charity initiative of donating $2 to Children with cancer charities for each Big Mac burger purchase, they named the campaign ‘A Day Without a Whopper’.
The results, well McDonald’s sold an extra 73,437 Big Macs raising a record amount for the charity, which was an incredible win for the brand, but Burger King wasn’t the loser here, the brand was able to generate considerable goodwill, appreciation, and brand value from both sides of the fence in the process.
It’s so refreshing seeing two giant brands like McDonalds’s and Burger King collaborating and in turn helping charities, rather than being greedy!
Although, this was a great marketing tactic they knew they wouldn’t be losing out on sales as the positive response from this campaign most likely boosted them.
Nonetheless, it is still great, to see a feel-good campaign that makes us smile and restore our faith in humanity even if just a little bit! And, despite taking place in Argentina, the campaign spread across social media like wild fire and received worldwide attention and appreciation.
Uber x Spotify
Back in 2014, Spotify and Uber partnered on a specific kind of collaboration: a strategic partnership. What’s a strategic partnership?
Well, in essence, a strategic partnership is a relationship between two entities that results in mutually beneficial outcomes.
The collaboration between Spotify and Uber allowed premium Spotify account users to listen to their own music in cars booked through the Uber app. The two apps link to each other within the Uber app and allow users to build music playlists for their journeys.
Through this partnership, both Uber and Spotify gained a competitive advantage: Uber gained a simple service that enabled it to deliver tailored music experiences, while Spotify gained a way to entice consumers to subscribe to its Premium service.
The integration of Spotify and Uber generated an immersive, unique experience. It could only have been possible if each company leaned on the expertise of the other.
As a result, both companies have reached a wider audience while increasing brand recognition and maximizing the benefits that each has to offer. Spotify Premium users will be encouraged by the partnership to take Ubers over other ride-sharing providers, while Uber customers will be pushed towards Spotify Premium over other providers.
As both services can be used together rather than just one, the strategic alliance is a win-win for both companies
Final takeways…
- Collaborative marketing increases your reach and gives you access to more consumers.
- Working with another company allows you to market to more than just one group of potential customers.
- Collaborative marketing appears to provide more value in terms of exposure and marketing effectiveness, assuming both companies are equally invested in the partnership.
Would you collaborate with a brand? Need some help? Get in touch today!
