Remember when a brand collaboration was genuinely surprising? When Adidas partnered with a fashion designer or a candy brand did something unexpected, it actually broke through because it was novel. Cross-category partnerships felt adventurous. Now I see a new collab announcement daily and my reaction is a flat 'hm.'
The math has changed. Collaborations used to derive value from unexpectedness (these two things together? how delightful!). Now they derive value from... what exactly? Brand adjacency? Borrowed cultural capital? I'm not sure anyone can articulate why most collabs exist beyond 'we both have marketing budgets and a shared desire for press coverage.'
Lego nearly went bankrupt in 2004, pivoted to licensed partnerships and adult fans, and became the world's most powerful brand by 2015. Not by changing what they made, but by changing who they made it for.
The worst offenders are the ones where the collaboration produces nothing of actual value, just co-branded packaging on existing products. A fast-food chain puts a celebrity's face on the same meal you could have ordered anyway. A makeup brand releases their existing products in a branded box. The collab is the marketing, not the product.
The worst offenders are the ones where the collaboration produces nothing of actual value, just co-branded packaging on existing products.
The collabs that still work are the ones that create something genuinely new that neither brand could have made alone. When Lego works with NASA, the output is a product that couldn't exist without both parties. When most brands collab, the output is a press release.
I'm calling it: collab fatigue is here. The next wave of interesting brand partnerships won't be announced with a splash. They'll be so integrated you won't realize they're collaborations at all.