Collaborative Marketing in the Luxury Industry

Introduction

One of the marketing techniques we briefly described in one of our Instagram posts is collaboration. Collaborative marketing is a strategy to promote brands in a way to either increase brand awareness, reach specific target audience, and boost sales or minimize cost.

However, sometimes too much of collaboration can have the opposite effect. In rare cases when you think of collaborations, your mind immediately recalls specific brands – for example, Supreme. Is there any brand or anything Supreme didn’t collaborate with? We can discuss the strategy of Supreme in one of our next blogs. But collaboration is something that either makes or breaks you.

Luxury Brands

In this blog, we will specifically talk about luxury brands and collaborations between luxury brands, as that is the industry we want to give more attention to.

When it comes to fashion, the purpose of brand collaborations is to create ‘limited edition collections‘ that are attractive to consumers in order to drive traffic, increase sales, and make the brand more popular. This type of collaborative marketing was started by the American supermarket chain Target when it collaborated with Isaac Mizrahi in 1999, but it was later improved with a fast-fashion brand from Sweden, H&M, who launched successful collaborations with Karl Lagerfeld, Lanvin, Stella McCartney, Cavalli, Versace etc.

After that, many brands started using the same strategy. For example, recently, the French luxury brand Hermès collaborated with Apple by making key chains, bag charms, and luggage tags with exclusive versions of Apple’s Item Tracking AirTags. It also offered a fancy iPhone case that used Apple’s MagSafe technology and different but exclusive types of Apple Watches. The result of this collaboration is the following: Apple emphasized its positioning as a luxury brand, while Hermès followed the technological trends it wanted to be a part of. 

There are other interesting & popular examples, such as Dior x Nike, shoes that cost $2,000 with a purpose to attract younger, Gen Z who just love the streetwear. However, if not carefully planned and strategically analyzed, such collaborations can turn out the opposite of what was anticipated.

Too Many Is Just Too Many

One of the examples that didn’t show the logic behind it and probably caused more confusion was the recent collaboration between Gucci and Balenciaga. As the critics called it a “mutual contamination” of logos and brand identity that resulted in “Gucciaga”. This collaboration was just too much for the eyes of the consumers. 

The second example is again between two luxury houses but from a different industry, jewelry on one side and champagne on the other. Bulgari and Dom Pérignon created a limited edition of the Dom Pérignon Rosé 2004.

Would you drink it or just look at it and admire it? Again, there was no clear logic behind this type of collaboration.

Conclusion

When thinking of collaborative marketing you have to continuously assess and analyze the needs and behavior of consumers. You might not be aware of it, but collaborative marketing is used in a way that is more user-driven. The content that you publish is shared, your products or services are talked about, and that is word-of-mouth, one of the most simple and yet most effective tactics for collaborative marketing. 

Another tip is to collaborate with brands that promote similar products in order to increase outreach and boost your sales. Maybe you think it is your competitor, but your weakness can be offset by another brand’s strength and vice versa, and that in turn will create a strong and powerful product in the eyes of consumers.

There are definitely more strategies when it comes to collaborative marketing, but the first step is to think about your purpose. If you’re not sure about your purpose, the second step would be to contact us as your strategic partner. :)