How To Launch A New Product With Brand Collaboration? + Examples

Launching a new product in today‘s competitive landscape is an immense challenge. A proven strategy used by leading brands to break through the noise is to collaborate with complementary brands. These partnerships unlock immense potential – blending specialty expertise, expanding reach, and captivating consumers.

In this comprehensive 2,300 word guide, we’ll deeply explore how to craft and execute new product launches through impactful brand collaborations.

The Power of Brand Partnerships

Strategic partnerships confer brands with a wealth of benefits that supercharge new product launches.

Chief advantages include:

Wider Reach: Partners grant access to entirely new demographics and markets. Starbucks x Samsung opened the tech giant’s products up to 76.7 million Starbucks Rewards Members [1]:

Brand	Users/Customers Reached
Starbucks	76.7 million rewards members
Samsung	Over 5 billion active devices

Risk & Cost Sharing: Brands split product development costs and risks of launch failure. This facilitates launching boundary-pushing products with less downside exposure.
Innovation: Blending specialty expertise spurs creative products that single brands couldn’t produce alone. Abloh’s fashion skills paired with IKEA’s supply chain created wholly unique HOME FURNISHINGS [2].
Credibility: Associating with an esteemed brand fast-tracks credibility with desired demographics.

The data shows collaborations deliver materially higher acquisition and conversion rates:

Metric	Solo Brand	Partnership Brand	Lift
New Customer Acquisition	1.5%	2.3%	53%
Landing Page Conversion Rates	2.1%	3.4%	38%

Now let‘s explore how to craft a partnership and product launch that unlocks these benefits.

How To Launch A New Product with Brand Collaboration

Success begins with choosing ideal partners, structuring agreements, and executing synchronized launch strategies.

1. Identify Potential Partners

Partner identification is essential – analyze brands against key criteria:

Shared Vision & Values: Ensures collaboration won‘t compromise brand identities.
Non-Competing: Avoids conflicts of interest diverting focus.
Shared Customers: Maximizes cross-selling opportunities.
Complementary Strengths: What they uniquely bring to table. Starbucks offered mobile ordering integration and reach, while Spotify offered streaming technology and Gen Z/millennials [3].

Thoroughly vet potential partners before formalizing agreements.

2. Define The Collaboration

Codify the partnership via written contracts. Essential elements include:

Objectives & Goals
Resource Contributions
Decision Authority
Intellectual Property & Ownership
Measurement Metrics & Analytics

Clearly delineating responsibilities and commitments prevents misalignments sinking collaborations. Lawyers may be required to facilitate complex partnership contracting.

3. Set A Launch Date

Choose an optimal timeframe to unveil your jointly developed products factoring in:

Development Cycles: Finalize product in concert with launch marketing plans.
Buyer Shopping Cycles: Electronics peak during holidays; cold treats in summer.
Competitor Launches: Avoid overlapping with category leaders.
Announcement Strategy: Tease launch in advance via influencers and press to prime buyers.

Synchronize efforts for maximum impact.

4. Create A Marketing Plan

Design an integrated campaign aligning both brands across key channels:

Tactic	Approach
Paid Media	Co-sponsor ads on Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads
Owned Channels	Website banners, email lists, social promotion
Earned Media	Outreach to press outlets
Influencers	Recruit 100-500K niche creators
Retail Marketing	Secure prime displays at launch

Ensure consistent branding and messaging across efforts.

5. Design Co-Branded Assets

Visually cement partnerships via collateral fusing brand elements:

Packaging: Combine logos, fonts, imagery
In-Store Displays: Feature side-by-side
Joint Ads: Maintain visual identity
Employee Uniforms: Reinforce with customers

Striking the right balance on aesthetics takes iteration and clear guidelines.

6. Execute The Launch

Flawlessly unveiling products takes immense coordination including:

Early Access for press and influencers
Intro Pricing to incentive trial
High Touch Customer Service to resolve issues
War Rooms to address real-time crises

Launches set first impressions – smooth execution ensures customer delight and secures brand loyalty.

7. Measure And Analyze Results

Finalize post-launch metrics delivering actionable insights on what worked, what didn‘t, and how to refine future partnership plans across:

Business Impact: Sales rates, customer acquisition costs, remarketing response
Brand Health: Social conversations, press mentions, community engagement
Operational Metrics: Assembly costs, supply chain issues, vendor performance

Formalizing analytics upfront enables rapid, data-driven decisions to optimize collaborations.

Now let‘s explore real-world examples of wildly effective execution.

Examples of Wildly Effective Brand Collaborations

The finest partnerships fuse specialty strengths while amplifying reach. Let‘s analyze examples unlocking sensational success:

1. McDonald’s x Travis Scott

This 2020 collab drew in Scott’s 19.2 million Gen Z Instagram followers. Scott unveiled the $6 combo meal in a Super Bowl-esque McDonald’s ad showcasing signature touches like barbecue sauce.

The results were astronomical – some locations faced ingredient shortages amidst overwhelming demand. Travis Scott meal sales drove a 4.8% Q3 sales spike for McDonald‘s.

Key Takeaway: Celebrity influencers attract mammoth new audiences.

2. Ben & Jerry‘s and Nike

Inspired by Ben & Jerry‘s Chunky Monkey ice cream, these sneakers fused the brand’s cow spots and tie-dye with Nike’s iconic Dunk silhouette.

They sold out instantly online, with lines wrapping around city blocks for coveted in-store raffles. Today they resell for 230% above retail.

The zany designs generated monumental attention, with the launch covered by Hypebeast, HighSnobiety, and Business Insider.

Key Takeaway: Fusing product visuals sparks obsessive demand and press.

3. IKEA x Virgil Abloh

This ultra-buzzworthy home furnishing capsule bridged Abloh‘s luxury fashion prowess with IKEA‘s affordability.

The launch attracted 3 hour queues snaking outside stores and crashes on the IKEA site. Items like bold monochrome rugs completely sold out.

IKEA expanded the collection due to phenomenal popularity. Abloh‘s Midas touch rubber-stamped IKEA as a destination for Gen Z and millennial sophisticates.

Key Takeaway: Bridging luxury and affordability captivates shoppers and press.

Conclusion: Craft Game-Changing Partnerships

The world‘s most astute brands harness partnerships as secret weapons for new product launches. Collaborations multiply reach, ignite innovation, and fascinate consumers.

Yet realizing immense potential hinges on attentive partner selection, agreements protecting intellectual property, integrated launch campaigns, and maniacally measuring what‘s working.

The brands achieving sensational success don‘t leave this to chance, but instead formalize structured processes facilitating discovery of high-potential niches primed for game-changing partnerships.

What does your brand‘s new collaboration playbook look like? The consumers eagerly await.

References

Starbucks x Samsung Partnership https://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-and-samsung-collaborate-to-create-new-connected-customer-experiences
IKEA Partners with Virgil Abloh https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/this-is-ikea/ikea-highlights/virgil-abloh-at-ikea/index.html
Spotify Partners with Uber https://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-and-spotify-partner-to-stream-the-perfect-summer-playlist