Brand collabs are nothing new–to certain industries at least. Luxury fashion and adjacent categories like footwear have been releasing brand collabs for decades now. Trends like streetwear and techwear have inspired collaborations like Supreme x Burberry and The North Face x Gucci. Lending famous faces to a brand goes all the way back to Nike’s original Air Jordans, and continues in earnest with more recent examples like Pharrell and Louis Vuitton.
For brands looking to amplify their cultural impact and boost sales, collaborating with another famous brand is an exciting opportunity for product innovation. But here’s the twist: These days, it’s not just fashion brands jumping into the brand collab game.
From left to right: Gucci x The North Face, Supreme x Burberry, from Louis Vuitton’s first collection with Pharrell as Creative Director
“Orgs are doubling down on their core brands and trying to use their brand equity to create new lines instead of starting from scratch,” explains Lukas Cartmell, Highlight account executive and apparel specialist.
The flurry of recent brand collabs across industries outside of fashion and footwear indicate this trend is not slowing down. Here are 14 we’ve seen in recent months across the CPG landscape:
Beloved craft beer Fat Tire by New Belgian Brewing has been popular nationwide for years. Now they're once again showing just how much they understand their core consumers with a limited edition collaboration with apparel brand Vans.
This collaboration not only includes the signature Vans checkered pattern on Fat Tire cans, but also a limited release of Vans classic slip-on checkerboard shoes sporting a custom Fat Tire design, plus a matching hat, socks, and cooler.
Fast-growing brand Ghost is already producing energy drinks consumers love. Now they're leveraging the power of nostalgia and the equity of a household brand known to generations of consumers.
The new Welch's grape Ghost flavor is just the latest addition in a long line of collaborations with iconic brands and flavors, including Sour Patch Kids Redberry and Bubblicious Cotton Candy. Shoppers can find the latest flavor in limited release in August 2024, and looking forward to wider availability at retailers like Walmart and Kroger beginning in September 2024.
If you've ever dipped a french fry in a chocolate shake, this collab is for you.
Fast-growing brand GoodPop teamed up with household name Ore-Ida to elegantly meet an unmet need: When you can't decide whether you want something salty or sweet, you can have both in this beautiful creation.
This tasty treat sells out quickly wherever it's sold, so check your local frozen aisle!
This collaboration of a beloved footwear brand, soda brand and a celebrity is nothing short of genius. They've harnessed the brand equity of two iconic legacy brands in different sectors (Pepsi and Reebok) and combined that with the popularity of an NBA All Star-turned household name.
The quirky idea and design only adds to the charm. Consumers love a lot about Shaq, but his legendary stature is high on the list. As Pepsi’s CMO put it in a statement, “While a Pepsi Mini Can is small enough to fit in anyone's pocket, Shaq is one of the only people with a shoe big enough to comfortably fit one in his shoe, so we can't wait for consumers to get their hands (and feet!) on this once-in-a-lifetime collab.”
Fish and beer are already an iconic duo–so for Keystone Light and tinned fish brand Fishwife to pair up makes perfect sense. Their colab not only includes a tinned fish SKU formulated to pair with Keystone Light, but also a tacklebox, so that “you have something to enjoy, even if the fish aren’t biting,” said Frank Cirone, senior marketing director for Keystone Light.
You can get your own “Smooth Snackle Pack” in plenty of time for the ideal Father’s Day (or Mother’s Day!) gift.
If you know Frank’s Red Hot sauce, then you know their tagline: “I put that s*** on everything.” But have you ever put Frank’s Red Hot on Pepperidge Farms’ Goldfish crackers?
If you haven’t yet, now’s your chance to enjoy it all in one convenient package. “If you close your eyes, you would think that you just dipped a Goldfish in Frank's Red Hot–which I actually do sometimes. They’re definitely meeting an unmet need!” said Highlight’s Director of Sensory, Lauren Rappaport. (Read her full interview.)
Keep things cheesy with a collab by another set of well-loved sauce and cracker brands: Hidden Valley Ranch and Cheez-Its. Add this cheesy drizzle to a plate of nachos or tater tots, or use for dipping french fries.
This condiment is hitting Walmart and Kroger shelves this spring, followed by a whole suite of other variations like Garlic Ranch, Nashville Hot, and Spicy Hot Honey.
Remember birthday parties as a kid when there was a Carvel cake? Those were the best! But then we got older and lactose didn’t agree with us like it once did. Or maybe we’ve switched to plant-based foods only. Thankfully Oatly has come to the rescue with their Carvel collab for those of us who want to enjoy the same great cakes we love–without the lactose regret.
Their collab doesn’t stop at cakes, either. Stop by your local Carvel to find Oatly soft serve and ice cream sandwiches, too!
TikTok has given us so many gifts, not the least of which is the “dirty soda” trend. With the latest release from Dr. Pepper and Coffee Mate, you don’t have to do any of the work yourself.
Coffee Mate’s new coconut lime flavored creamer is made specifically to be mixed with Dr. Pepper. If that flavor combo sounds a little strange, it might be because you’re not a TikTok user, but never fear, because now it’s available for everyone to try for themselves.
As Nestle’s press release stated, this product is "a result of authentic consumer demand for both brands." In other words, TikTok offered a free view into in-context consumer behaviors, and Nestle was wise to capitalize on it.
We're living in a truly blessed timeline for Dr. Pepper fans, because they’ve also teamed up with iconic marshmallow candy brand Peeps just in time for Easter.
Peeps fans have plenty to celebrate, too. Now they can enjoy their beloved candy in an even larger array of colors–Dr. Pepper’s distinctive shade of red perfectly complements the classic yellow, pink, and blue Peeps.
Fishwife’s second appearance on this list features a hot new condiment taking over shelves across the US: FLY BY JING’s Sichuan chili crisp.
In this colab, Fishwife is bringing the smokiness of their salmon to pair with FLY BY JING’s Sweet & Spicy Zhong, a sauce inspired by a popular Chengdu street snack that’s sweet, tangy, spicy and umami-rich. If the sound of that flavor combo doesn’t win you over, the beauty of their packaging definitely will.
As US shoppers have more options for international flavors to love, they’re also eager for better access to international food preparation, too. Enter Our Place, a brand producing high-quality Chinese cookware like woks, steamers, chopsticks and more.
Their collab with FLY BY JING came out just in time for Spring Festival (also known as the Lunar New Year) and featured the co-branded Our Place x FLY BY JING 12-inch Hot Wok. Even if you didn’t manage to grab the set in time for the Lunar New Year, you can find both FLY BY JING and Our Place at Target to start cooking up the spicy dinner of your dreams.
The story of this brand collab is the stuff of consumer research lore. According to Food Dive, the original pairing began back at Coachella in 2023, when members of the Pringles and The Caviar Co. teams got together for tasting of caviar paired with various Pringles flavors.
Perhaps no one at the time could have anticipated the TikTok and Instagram virality to come from this event–which was only bolstered by a July appearance of the pairing on “The Real Housewives of New York” in which cast member Erin Lichy served Pringles and caviar at a party.
As Mauricio Jenkins, U.S. marketing lead for Pringles, noted in the same interview, the brands were “listening to what’s popping in culture and giving the people what they want.” Social media is one important window into what consumers want–and when paired with the data you can gather via in-context consumer research, brands can get the validate a winning combo that shoppers will love.
Natural spring water brand evian may be a fast-moving consumer good, but it is the luxury choice among bottled water brands.
Learn more on Instagram
No wonder then that they’ve chosen to collaborate with luxury Parisian fashion brand Coperni, named after the famous astrologer Copernicus. The recyclable glass bottle features a constellation design that drinkers can gaze at further by peeking inside the bottle. Fans of the brands can find this collab at select restaurants and retailers, including, of course, TAO and Soho House.
Can Oreo be improved upon? Gaga’s Little Monsters might think so. To promote the release of her Chromatica album, Lady Gaga teamed up with “America’s favorite cookie” to create a bright chrome pink package of green “stuf” Oreos.
And that’s just the beginning of Oreo’s collabs. Their most recent innovation “Space Dunk” cookies feature “cosmic creme” with popping candy–now available at Target.
While not yet an official brand collab, it’s safe to bet that something from Olipop or other trending soda brands is in the works to bring an official “Sleepy Girl Mocktail” to shelves everywhere.
If you’re not a TikTok user, here’s the combo creators have been praising for improving the quality of their sleep: tart cherry juice, your favorite flavor of Olipop (the creator above uses Lemon Lime, but you’ll find all sorts of flavors used by different TikTokers), and magnesium powder.
Whether you need to validate a trending TikTok product use case or uncover what unmet needs could be satisfied through a brand collab, in-context consumer testing can give you the confidence you need to partner up on data-driven product development with your brand friends in the CPG world.