In 2020, sales for Yeezy by Kanye and Adidas reached nearly $1.7B – Forbes. The highest grossing ads, designs and products have recorded brand collaboration to be a great tool that helps achieve groundbreaking results.
As creatives, a good brand collaboration shouldn’t be far down in our books as the opportunities it carries are tremendous and can be career changing. However, as to everything one needs to know how to successfully steer it in to get maximum returns.
1. Have a Defined Goal
When you set out with a vehicle very early in the day but with no destination you end in the middle of nowhere.
When collaborating with another creative, defining what you are up to is very important. Having a common goal you’ll be working towards is the cornerstone of the collaboration.
Defining the goal sets the tone of the collaboration and the direction you should channel your juices.
Be sure to clearly define what you want to achieve with all details clearly spelt out.
2. Complement Each Other
How do you work towards the same goal without knowing how to complement each other’s skills?
If one brand has something you don’t and you have something they don’t, you can balance each other out.
To get the best of whatever collaboration, know the skills of your creative and how it can help achieve this goal.
You both have to see how your skills will make the goal a reality and a good reality at that.
3. Create the right environment
Communication is a core part of brand collaboration. As creatives working together perhaps for the first time, create the right environment to accommodate your different entities.
Creativity is very sensitive like emotions and as such the right environment to get things birthed should be created between both parties.
Humans prefer to be treated in different ways, try to figure out how your partner would love to be respected and regarded. Creatives also have a manner of approach or point of view, it really helps to understand their point of view so as to be able to meet them halfway.
4. A formal agreement
Artists and creatives have a lot in common and one is wanting to OWN, thus it’s advisable to document your collaboration for future purposes.
You will be working too hard towards a common goal to have things go down the drain if misunderstanding occurs, it’s just being cautious to protect your interest.
In no case except otherwise decided should you take this lightly, humans will always be humans and can change anytime.
5. Remember your goal
It’s easy to forget the focus when caught in the whines of creating, ensure to keep an eye on the goal, and figure out a way to be constantly reminded of the destination.
Conclusion
Two heads are better than one but too many cooks spoil the broth which is why you should put these tips into practice in your next brand collaboration.
How many of these tips do you practice? Which would you incorporate moving forward?
Let’s chat in the comments.
