When two (or more) cool things come together, magic is made. Brand partnerships are an obviously impactful yet underutilized tactic in marketing and brand-building. They’re one of those tactics that can easily fall onto a “someday maybe” list that inevitably never gets looked at again, because it sounds like a lot of work.
The magic of brand partnerships is that they bring worlds together. The best partnerships are those that bring together brands from disparate categories. In doing so, each brand’s audiences are introduced to another that they’d probably not heard of before. Opening up these connections has a number of benefits…
Benefits of Brand Partnerships
Brand partnerships are some of my favorite brand-building tools. They can help brands:
Create awareness: Through partnership, brands place themselves in front of new audiences who might not have previously been aware of them.
Build equity: Brand partnerships can reinforce a facet of a brand’s identity, such as their values or sense of place.
Expand impact: Partnerships can help create a wider impact when they include a cause element.
Have fun: Brands need passion projects too! Some of the best brand partnerships are those that happen just for the fun of it.
Aside from all of these benefits, I think the greatest thing that brand partnerships do is they give people something to talk about. Partnerships create buzz that ripples out into the stratosphere, they pique consumer curiosity, and give each brand something out-of-the-ordinary to include in their marketing plans.
2024 Roundup: Brand Partnerships in Action
In 2024, there were a few brand partnerships that especially caught my attention.
Anthropologie, maker of stylish clothing and home goods, partnered with the regenerative agriculture-focused nonprofit Kiss the Ground for an Earth Month collab.
Their partnership included co-branded content, a $100k donation from Anthropologie to the nonprofit, and for the month of April Anthro offered opportunities for their consumers to make additional donations at checkout. To take it a step further, Anthro released a capsule collection of clothing made with regeneratively grown cotton.
This collab allowed Anthro to boost their brand equity by demonstrating their commitments to philanthropy and sustainability. It also allowed Kiss the Ground to build brand awareness by getting in front of Anthro’s millions of followers across social platforms. Impact was achieved via donations and awareness built.
I first learned about Kiss the Ground a couple of years ago when I was introduced to the concept of regenerative agriculture. Storytelling is a critical part of their structure, and their story is super cool–their leader networked his way into a deal for a Netflix documentary. The doc was narrated by Woody Harrelson and put regenerative agriculture on the big screen in front of Netflix viewers, which was huge for the movement. Kiss the Ground can serve as an inspiration to nonprofit marketers everywhere.
As someone who began their career at a nonprofit, seeing partnerships like these warms my heart. Mega corporations absolutely should be using their platforms and resources to promote causes that are doing good, and nonprofits are more than worthy of the attention that such partnerships can bring. I hope to see more corporation x nonprofit partnerships in the coming year!
Liquid Death is a champion of brand partnerships. They use the tactic as one of their primary brand-building tools, frequently partnering with brands from related and unrelated categories. Liquid Death’s partnerships tend to be unexpected and hilarious, taking “let’s give the people something to talk about” to new levels.
One of the several brand partnerships that Liquid Death did this year was with Yeti, maker of stylish and effective drink coolers. The two brands joined forces to make a one-of-a-kind casket cooler, filled with Liquid Death’s canned beverages. The partnership included co-branded content across social platforms and culminated in an auction where the full-sized casket was sold to the highest bidder.
Liquid Death’s outrageous partnerships are extremely effective at capturing consumer attention and creating buzz. The fun that their team has in bringing their partnerships to life is palpable.
Quintissential Vermont-iness was achieved through this partnership, which brought together three icons of Vermont culture: golden retrievers at a farm, flannel, and the Vermont Teddy Bear Company.
Golden Dog Farm Vermont provides “golden retriever experiences” on their farm; Vermont Flannel is an iconic maker of cozy flannel wear; and Vermont Teddy Bear Company (VTBC) has been handmaking furry friends since the ‘80s.
This partnership consisted of a special edition golden retriever plush toy, emulating the farm’s pups and made by VTBC, featuring a Vermont Flannel bandana.
This triple crossover built brand equity for all three brands, reinforcing their shared sense of place. As a golden retriever mom, native Vermonter, and flannel lover, I really enjoyed seeing this partnership come together.
Where 3D Meets Digital
In addition to the brand-building benefits that partnerships offer, this tactic is also a really cool way to blend physical and digital worlds together. When physical products are produced via partnerships, brands have something new, interesting, and exciting to talk about across their digital spaces. Content can be made by each brand, and will inevitably be made once the products get into the hands of consumers.
What worlds will you collide with?
If you’re a brand looking at your 2025 marketing strategy, consider adding a brand partnership in there. Partnerships are great tools for building brand equity and awareness, and at the very least they may bring some fun into your work.
To get started, take a look at your product portfolio and consider what types of products or brands would be complementary to what you offer. Are there products that would work well in conjunction with your own, but that your team doesn’t have the capabilities to produce? Are there nonprofits that share a set of values you want to highlight? Make a list of the brands you’d like to partner with and come up with a few ideas for what that partnership could look like.
Then, reach out to them and ask if they’d be down for a collab! Sometimes all it takes is a quick email to the other brand’s customer service team–someone there should be able to route your inquiry to where it needs to go. ;)
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