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Collab That Converts
Why strategic partnerships are your fastest shortcut to brand heat and audience crossover
Jack Willoughby
May 12, 2025
🧠 The Thought
A brand doesn’t grow just by shouting louder—it grows by borrowing trust. When you collab with the right brand, you don’t just double your reach—you multiply belief.
💬 Quote
You don’t need more reach. You need more relevance.
The fastest way to become relevant? Partner with a brand that already owns the attention of the audience you want.
📊 Stat Drop
71 % of consumers enjoy seeing unlikely brand collaborations.
More than half of consumers say brand collaborations help them discover new brands.
Greggs x Primark’s first collaboration in 2022 saw most items sell out within two days, with queues forming outside stores and products reselling online.
🎯 Tactic — Find Your Brand Extension Match
Audience Overlap — Who already has your dream customers’ attention?
Cultural Permission — Who could you align with to say something you can’t say alone?
Utility or Identity? — Is your collab meant to be useful or status-boosting? Don’t try to do both.
Example:
Greggs = affordable, everyday joy.
Primark = affordable, everyday fashion.
Result = wearable baked-goods hype.
🧰 Framework — Crossover Matrix
Quadrant | Example | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
Useful + Low Hype | Uber x Spotify | Experience boost |
Useful + High Hype | Nike x Apple (FuelBand) | Innovation clout |
Status + Low Hype | Uniqlo x Lemaire | Quiet cool factor |
Status + High Hype | Greggs x Primark, Adidas x Gucci | Cultural combustion |
Start with the upper right if you want press + product + profit.
🎥 Campaign Breakdown — Greggs x Primark 2.0
Greggs x Primark 2.0
What happened?
Date: February 2025
Drop: Bucket hats, sausage roll T-shirts, varsity jackets, boxer shorts with sausage roll graphics, hoodies, joggers, sliders, trainers, socks, and more.
Launch playbook: In-store launches across 60 Primark locations, exclusive pop-up boutiques, influencer and celebrity drops, strong social media teasers, and queue-worthy scarcity.
Why it worked:
Unexpected Familiarity — Two British high street icons colliding for instant nostalgia and novelty.
Retail Theatre — Pop-ups, exclusives, and local celeb/influencer drops created buzz both IRL and online.
Shared Voice — Both brands speak working-class confidence, with humour.
Steal this: Don’t just sell-stage a moment. That’s how people remember you.
📌 Task of the Day
List three non-competing brands your audience already loves.
Pick one and draft a “fantasy collab” campaign:
Product or service
Launch moment (drop, livestream, content series)
Visual hook or headline
Post the mockup to LinkedIn or Instagram Stories. Watch the reactions roll in.
➡️ Next Up
Next Week: The 10-Year Brand Map—how to reverse-engineer a vision that compounds like Gymshark or YETI.
Questions? Hit reply—I read every one.
— Jack, Brand Building Weekly