Textile University Students on Fashion" >
Author |Liu Yuchen.
With the development of the times, the phenomenon of co-branding in the apparel industry has changed from the initial innovative design to a design technique and marketing strategy. When the co-branding phenomenon first appeared, it gave people a refreshing feeling, brought new consumption stimulus, and also allowed the brand to see the dividends and topics. As co-branding becomes more widely used, more disadvantages and advantages emerge.
Brand co-branding refers to the brand through cooperation with other brands, IPs, designers, artists, etc. to produce new products, with the help of the influence of both parties to enhance the commercial value of the brand or product, is an important way to break through the inherent impression of the brand and explore diversified fields, which is not only in line with the innovation at the product level, but also has the value of topic communication and brand building. Most brands choose to co-brand, hoping that both parties will win together, even if the response will not be particularly successful, they can also use this to attract a batch of traffic and topics.
However, is brand co-branding a method used for innovation, or a first-class strategy in disguise?
The advantages of clothing brand co-branding are significant
From the perspective of the brand, the most obvious advantage of brand co-branding is to expand the natural topic and attention of the audience groups of both parties more extensively, develop some potential customers, and improve the topic degree and brand reputation through two-way output between brands.
From a product perspective, co-branded products can draw on the design innovation and brand stories of both brands, integrate the essence of both brands, and give full play to their maximum significance and value. After consumers are Xi to the consistent product style of a brand, they will also stimulate interest and consumption enthusiasm in the face of co-branded models, and their purchasing power and design promote each other, and they are more expected of the brand they are passionate about. The new products, new ideas, and new ways of playing that accompany the co-branding will also give the market an incentive and break the traditional solidification model. Some classic products will further sublimate the brand expression after transformation, deriving sub-series and co-branded series, keeping pace with the times and making them more fresh while preserving classic design elements.
Disney's cooperation with Uniqlo is a typical case of co-branded marketing between a brand and an anime IP. As a world-renowned anime brand, Disney has many classic characters and stories, and has a strong influence and fan base. As a fashion fast-moving consumer goods brand, UNIQLO is loved by more and more young people with its simple and comfortable design style. The collaboration combines iconic Disney characters with Uniqlo's fashion brand image to create a range of popular products. The advantage of this type of co-branding lies in the complementarity of the two brands. Disney's well-known IP can attract more young consumers, while Uniqlo's brand image can increase the fashion sense and trend attributes of Disney products. Through co-branding, both parties can share brand influence and user groups to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
The products of the Off-White x Nike series are definitely the exaggerated deconstructed designs that will be remembered most by everyone. Details such as the stitched swoosh, the instantly recognizable industrial barrage on the inside, the exposed sponge tongue, and the cicada wing instead of traditional leather make for an unprecedented start. In fact, most sneaker players understand the concept of deconstructed design from off-white x Nike. It is also this joint brand that has set off a wave of deconstruction fever, and many domestic and international sneaker brands have launched deconstructed design sneakers so far. In addition to the exaggerated structural aesthetics, the OFF-WHITE X Nike series continues the usual anti-adjustment decoration design of its main line shoes, setting off a new trend for the sneaker circle, whether it is OFF-WHITE X Nike or a certain treasure with the same "anti-adjustment button", more and more sneaker players have begun to wear it, and the patterns are even more bizarre. Behind the collaboration between Off-White and Nike, in addition to creating sky-high sneakers, it has also injected a lot of fresh designs into the sneaker market.
The disadvantages of clothing brand co-branding are particularly existent
The starting point of brand co-branding is good, but the advantages of brand co-branding are not absolute, and there will be certain risks. When the positioning of two clothing brands and consumer groups are very different, what is achieved is not complementarity, but failure. If it is only for the gimmick of co-branding rather than really designing products that are beneficial to consumers, co-branding will not only fail to give full play to the advantages of "1+1 is greater than 2", but will have an adverse impact on the brand. Co-branding between big brands is not necessarily successful, but co-branding with a non-well-known brand with a low level of compatibility is not ideal. The suitability between the two parties is very important, and the instability of whether it is suitable or not is precisely the root cause of the growing disadvantages of brand co-branding.
The response to the collaboration between Cucci and Palace was not very satisfactory, and the ** gradually fell to a quiet silence, and consumers were not only numb to the current brand co-branding, but even to the street culture that has been "bouncing" in the fashion circle. The emergence of street culture has become more and more like a "money-making tool" for luxury brands, which continue to use the shell of street culture to achieve a kind of soul resonance with young consumers, but this resonance is not the real core of these brands, and there is a feeling of co-branding for the sake of co-branding.
There are more than 80 sets of Cucci and adidas collaborations, including clothes, footwear, accessories and other categories. Cucci and adidas have also launched a co-branded logo that combines the adidas trefoil icon with the Cucci typeface. However, this series of co-branded models has been complained by a lot of netizens. Many consumers complained that the design was too copycat, describing it as a pirated clover series.
Nowadays, it has become a common marketing method for brands to gain attention and traffic through cross-border co-branding. The design of the dual-brand logo is also to attract more consumers' attention through the cooperation of brands in different fields. But the co-branding should not just be like exchanging rings, a simple exchange of logos, no design ingenuity, with a simple and crude design to attract the public's attention, although it can get a moment of heat and attention, but after all, it is not as good as the real applause. For the sake of temporary popularity, it consumes consumer favorability and brand value, and after all, the gains outweigh the losses.
Brand co-branding has a long way to go
After brand co-branding, it can actually bring consumers more sense of story, let them feel the growth and transformation of their favorite brands, and look forward to new products in the future while maintaining loyalty.
When a co-branded model first appears, consumers will pay for the novelty. However, when co-branded models are constantly updated and iterative, and are used as a marketing tool, consumers will reduce their interest. If it is just a simple combination of two brand logos, it will reduce consumers' favorability of the brand. With the emergence of co-branded models, consumers have expectations for products, in addition to co-branded models, as well as satisfaction in product innovation ability, content stories, and emotional value. If you just replace the outer packaging without substantial innovation of the product, consumers' enthusiasm to buy will not increase but will decrease, and after a long time, consumers will have a sense of burnout, the co-branded model will no longer have its value, and the meaning of co-branding will no longer exist.
Before co-branding, brands should conduct in-depth research and research, fully understand each other's brand positioning and cultural concepts, and make risk assessments, which can prepare for co-branding to better meet consumer needs.
In fact, the most important thing for brand co-branding is not the popularity of the brand, but how to consider its practicality and innovation in product design after co-branding, meet consumers' pursuit of fashion and quality, and create more recognizable products while maintaining brand characteristics.
Maintain innovative thinking, do not regard co-branding as a set of marketing strategies, but to find new breakthroughs and cross-border possibilities, so that co-branding becomes synonymous with breaking through boundaries, and in paying attention to consumer demand, use innovative thinking to ensure the competitiveness and attractiveness of co-branded products in the times.
Instructor |Mao Lihui.
Author |Liu Yuchen (Wuhan Textile University, Graduate School of Fashion Arts).
Picture |Internet.
This article is the original work of Fashion**Columnist: Liu Yuchen, welcome**, please indicate the source of the original text: Fashion**This article only represents the author's point of view, not the view of fashion**.