Match made in heaven
Just like the perfect relationship, for a successful brand collaboration you need to have a shared vision and values. This allows trust to build and for your friends and family (in this case your audience) to believe in the authenticity of this match — it is no different for a brand collaboration.
A perfect example of this was the recent Adanola x Kendal Jenner partnership. Pairing the rising Clean Girl brand, known for its minimalist gym wear, with the O.G Clean Girl known for her love of athleisure, it was set to be a match made in heaven. Turning a simple product launch into a cultural moment that got everyone talking. By collaborating with a globally known icon who is loved and trusted by many Gen Zs and Millennials, Adanola helped build their brand's appeal and authenticity on a global scale.
Kendal Jenner wearing an Adanola sweatshirt in campaign shots, photographed by Sean Thomas.
Unfortunately, we don’t all have budgets for A-list celebrities and huge launches, but that’s when understanding your brand and your audience comes into play. Take Nature Scot for example, Union Connect have helped them find influencers and content creators that resonate with their audience, to foster collaborations that help educate while building brand awareness and community successfully, on much smaller budgets.
Stills from recent Nature Scot Collabs, Left to right, Libby Penman, Chris Lawlor, The ChaoticScot.
Building your community
Brand collaborations are becoming increasingly popular for brands hoping to build and engage with their community while strengthening their digital presence.
Redken is a great example of this. Their recent campaign with Sabrina Carpenter used TV, social media and programmatic advertising to tap into her loyal younger following on channels such as Instagram and TikTok to build awareness and sales for their hair products. But they were not the only Sabrina fans wanting to tap into her community. After the success of her song Espresso in 2025, Dunkin’ Donuts could not wait to Shake that ess with Sabrina, launching their Brown Sugar Shakin Espresso, aimed at her fans, creating a multi-touch campaign, which kept people coming back for that ess.
College of TikTokers taste testing the Sabrina Carpenter and Dunkin coffee.
Another brand I’m really enjoying watching build its community on authenticity and simplicity is REFY. By encouraging their consumers and community to be their content creators, they naturally become the face of the brand, which further moves them away from traditional beauty standards and opens the door to self-expression and inclusivity. Helping to deepen trust and accelerate engagement with their consumers.
Images from Refy Community retreat of their community practising meditation and yoga.
We can’t all see eye-to-eye
It is not all smooth sailing though. Do you remember the Adidas x Yeezy collab? What was once the most lucrative collaboration but ended in a brutal divorce? This is a true example of trust and shared values gone wrong.
When Kayne West started making comments in 2022* that did not align with Adidas but could still impact them, they decided to end their partnership, which left them with $1.2 billion worth of unwanted Yeezy stock and took them until 2024* to sell. I bet you wished you’d stuck with safe old Stan Smith, huh Adidas?
Luckily, Adidas was not tarnished with the same brush that Kayne painted himself in, as his comments went on to lose him $2 billion in other partnership deals overnight.
Lesson to learn — be careful who you share a bed with.
Eric Liedtke (left) and Kayne West (right), standing side by side.
Always and forever: The future of brand collaborations
As brands and creators continue to evolve, so will collaborations. But they will do so with a focus on prioritising trust and building lasting relationships over one-off campaigns. Co-creating in a way that fosters authenticity and creativity to harness their community, transforming campaigns into meaningful moments with a shared purpose.
Takes one to know one
The Union group is built on partnership and collaboration, allowing us to deliver great work that resonates with target audiences, time and time again. With a joint vision and real sense of community throughout the group, we’re able to develop and retain some of the best talent in the creative industry, and we know a winning brand match when we think of one. So, if you’re looking to take your brand to the next level, with a truly timeless brand collaboration or otherwise, then get in touch today.
