Brand mashups are big in China: We have continued to see major brands collaborate to launch new projects or products, to create synergies based on the unique strengths of each brand and drive shopper excitement. In many cases, these mashups involve collaborations between highly dissimilar brands: Think Snickers and Skechers or Lux and Sprite.

Skechers x Snickers Collaboration

On August 15, US footwear brand Skechers released a limited-edition sneaker collection in collaboration with chocolate brand Snickers (made by US-based Mars). Skechers adopted Snickers’ distinctive typography and color palette of red, white, blue and brown on its new sneakers. The new sneakers also have logos from both brands printed on the surface of the products and shoelaces.

[caption id="attachment_96455" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Skechers website[/caption]

Skechers wants to tap into Snickers’ millennial customer base. In another move to draw millennial customers, Skechers also collaborated with character brand Line Friends in July 2019 to release new products printed with popular Line characters, such as Brown who is a male bear.

Lux x Sprite

On August 23, Lux, one of Unilever's largest beauty and personal care brands, launched  a limited-edition shower gel in collaboration with soft drink brand Sprite (made by the Coca-Cola Company). The shower gel bottle uses Sprite’s primary green color – and the gel is Sprite flavored. Lux says the 2,000 bottles of the limited-edition co-branded shower gel were sold out in seconds, according to Lux.

Lux wants to leverage Sprite to attract more young consumers.

Sprite has also collaborated with singer Ma Si Wei from famous Chinese rap group Higher Brothers to release a rap song in late 2017.

[caption id="attachment_96456" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Lux Weibo/Tmall[/caption]

Noob Huang x Sprite

On August 12, Huang Lei, a famous Chinese actor and writer, set up an official store named under his lifestyle brand Noob Huang on group buying platform Pinduoduo. At the same time, Noob Huang released a new cup noodle in collaboration with Sprite. The noodle is flavored with numb-spicy (Sichuan and chili peppers) and Sprite. The company says it sold over 5,000 of the co-branded cup noodles within 14 hours upon its launch, according to Pinduoduo.

The new product even attracted premarketing attention on the TV show Back to Field (向往的生活) before the product was released: Fans were expecting its official release on Pinduoduo.

[caption id="attachment_96457" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Noob Huang Store
Source: Pinduoduo[/caption]

Chow Tai Fook x Coca-Cola

In August 2019, Hong Kong-listed jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook’s millennial-focused brand Monologue launched a new edition of jewelry in collaboration with Coca-Cola on China’s popular social media platform Little Red Book. The new edition includes necklaces, earrings and bracelets – all bearing the Coca-Cola logo or imagery.

[caption id="attachment_96458" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Chow Tai Fook’s Store on Little Red Book[/caption]

Here are some other key brand mashups in China.

[caption id="attachment_96459" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Company reports[/caption]

Key Insights

The Chinese consumer goods market is unusually fast-moving and innovative, and brands are working hard to drive excitement among shoppers. We have previously discussed how brands have launched unusual adaptations, often in partnership with online platforms such as Tmall. Brand mashups are a part of this innovative approach.