A great gift accompanied by enormous demands. This is how Carmen Navarrete, co-founder of Grupo Mosh, defines the collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana at La Câbane, the beach club which the company operates in Marbella together with the group of chef Dani García. For the second consecutive season, the Italian fashion house leaves its mark on the textiles of the restaurant’s outdoor area and the central pool, as well as on the details of the decoration of the entire space. For his part, the chef from Malaga has created a selection of sweets inspired by the brand’s universe and designs.
This collaboration between brands is known as cobranding and it has various benefits for companies, but it is not without risks, as explained by Andy Tsai, head of collaboration and licensing at Bata, the same position he previously held at Reebok and Mango. “One of the main advantages is attracting new customers, entering markets that would be more difficult to reach on your own.”
These words coincide with Navarrete’s when he said that joining forces with Dolce & Gabbana has given them international projection and has helped them become better known among a clientele accustomed to luxury. “It is an attraction for that type of client when you join a firm of that category. If you go with your own brand, in the end you need time to make a place for yourself in the market. It is a brutal experience, which also demands a lot from us and we can never rest on our laurels.”
Sonia Ferruz, coordinator of the master’s degree in Brand Management at the International University of La Rioja, adds that the cobranding “It allows both parties to capitalize on the relevance and reputation of the other, which can strengthen the positive perception of both by the consumer.”
Another advantage pointed out by Tsai, who is also a professor at TBS Education-Barcelona, is that for “mass consumption fashion brands” allying themselves with a renowned designer allows them to enter “more exclusive stores.” And he gives as an example the union of Reebok with Victoria Beckham, thanks to which the sports firm’s products “were in multi-brand establishments where they would not have a presence if that were not the case.”
Victoria Beckham was the designer with whom Mango launched a capsule collection this season, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Catalan company. “Collaborations with renowned designers contribute to fostering our desire to democratise the major trends in the fashion industry and make them accessible to the whole of society. In addition, these actions boost the brand’s positioning on a global level. The collection designed by the British designer and our design team, led by Justicia Ruano, creative director of Mango Woman, is an example of success in this regard,” says Blanca Muñiz, brand director of the company.
These collaborations also serve Mango, according to Muñiz, to “know in depth” the operation of other firms, as happened with the Italian tailoring company Boglioli. A statement that Tsai agrees with, pointing out that when you are creating with a partner, you can learn to do things differently or gain experience in developing a product. “This strategy promotes innovation, by combining the resources, knowledge and creativity of both companies, which can lead to unique and high-value products or services,” says Ferruz.
For Inditex, specific collaborations with other brands outside the group allow it to complement its offer and “enrich the experience” of its customers, according to a spokesperson for the brand, before citing Zara Home’s alliance with kitchen brands or that of Zara with sports brands to incorporate technical clothing into their catalogue.
Although collaborations tend to be more common in the world of fashion, they are not limited to that sector. An example is the beer that Mahou has just launched with the singer Duki. The drink, called La Diabla, is inspired by the duality of angel and devil, so it mixes mango and chili, and one in every 1,000 is very spicy. “We saw that collaborations are a good way not only to reach new audiences, but also to do so in a more personalized way and with a greater reach. Once we had decided on that approach, we were clear that it had to be with an artist who, like Duki, shared and projected similar values of belonging, commitment to their loved ones, leadership and innovation that also characterizes our brand,” says Miguel. Ángel Cabrero, innovation director of Mahou San Miguel.
The brewing company assures that the artist has been involved in the process of creating the drink from the beginning, taking part in the decisions about the product. They try to emphasize that it is not just a campaign in which a well-known face lends his image to a product or brand. “It is crucial to understand that while the cobranding “Focuses on the co-creation and linking of brand identities, while collaboration with a celebrity focuses more on the timely transfer of positive attributes from the character to the brand and on promoting the brand,” explains Ferruz.
For Andy Tsai there is “a fine line” between the cobranding and what is known in the sector as endorsement, that is, a celebrity promoting a product. Therefore, it must be made as clear as possible to the client when it is about one thing and when about the other. In his case, during his professional career, a small X has been the key in these situations. “In my time at Mango, I hired the footballer Antoine Griezmann, who was purely a campaign image. He was our ambassador. But when we collaborate on projects such as, for example, with the Simon Miller brand, we put the “X” on it. Which may seem like a silly thing, but it makes a difference. In addition, the collection had special labeling.”
Market saturation
A differentiation that, Tsai maintains, is essential at a time “when all brands want to join the cobranding, so they compete for who generates the most noise.” And what they end up generating is, in his opinion, “collab fatigue” or fatigue among consumers. “It is a phenomenon that occurs when clients feel overwhelmed or disinterested due to excessive collaborations. This fatigue can harm brands by reducing the impact of each new collaboration, diluting the perception of exclusivity and added value,” explains Ferruz.
An exclusivity that, in Tsai’s words, is being lost in the world of fashion collaborations. “Before, for example, there was one H&M capsule collection a year with a prestigious designer, which customers expected as something special and even queued in stores to purchase the clothes. Now, that there are so many, these launches no longer attract the attention of consumers as much.”
The fact that more and more companies are choosing to join forces with others to put a joint product on the market has the risk, in Tsai’s words, of wanting to do it only “because it is fashionable, without having a clear strategy”, which ends up leading to a “lack of authenticity” that buyers, with an increasingly educated eye, notice. To avoid this happening, Ferruz advises “maintaining coherence with the fundamental values of the brand, avoiding collaborations that may seem forced or merely commercial, and seeking to connect emotionally with consumers by highlighting the unique benefits that the union brings.”
Tsai also warns of the danger of “sinning for commerciality.” “When we are excited about a collaboration with a brand or designer, we tend to want to cover the sales needs of an entire campaign with that project. And there is a tendency to overproduce, which results in too much stock, when the basic rule of this type of initiative is a moderate purchase to generate the effect of exclusivity. Wanting to implement it in as many stores or countries as possible is not the most appropriate. The effect sold out of a collection is sexy.”
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