The challenge
A century-old category leader needed to stay culturally relevant with young US consumers. Its limited-edition collaborations had gone viral on TikTok before, and it needed a pipeline of new partners and ideas to keep that going. Our brief: find partnerships that would reach new audiences and feel genuinely right for the brand.
The insight
How do you create exclusivity for the most accessible brand on the planet?
The answer couldn't be scarcity for its own sake. The strongest collaborations connect two leaders through something their audiences already believe about both of them. So the job was to find genuine, ownable connection points, not just famous names.
What I did
- Mapped the collaboration landscape. Analysed recent collaborations across food and drink, fashion, celebrities, fast food and luxury to see which styles were working and why.
- Defined where the brand has permission to lead. Mapped the territories where the brand already has cultural credibility, so every partner would feel earned rather than bolted on.
- Built partner selection criteria and screened candidates. Identified leaders in adjacent categories, then analysed each one's social history, brand perception and audience overlap.
- Wrote the positioning story for each match. Turned the strongest pairings into "why this, why now" narratives and messaging, packaged as briefs that creative teams and prospective partners could act on.
- Briefed the creative team on social media mock-ups for the proposed collaborations.
The outcome
- The strategy was presented to the leadership team and approved.