As someone who regularly writes about branding and advertising, I've noticed something odd over the last year or so. Barely a press release pops into my inbox these days that isn't shouting excitedly about being a COLLAB!!!! between two well known brands. That used to grab my attention, because it was rare. In 2026, though, it's more unusual if a campaign doesn't have a big, showy plus sign or multiplication symbol in its headline.
Brands that once guarded their identity like a trade secret, it seems, are now lending it out with abandon. Wellness grocer Erewhon is selling Barbie-branded smoothies. Personal care brand Burt's Bees has bottled a lip balm that smells like Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. Coca-Cola has put its name on a pair of Crocs. I could go on… all day, if you like.
Let me be clear: this isn't a fad, confined to fashion or fast food. It's a structural shift in how brands think about growth. And it's creating fresh opportunities for creatives who understand both storytelling and the commercial logic behind it.
So what's driving the collab trend, exactly? Quite simply: going it alone has got harder and more expensive. In contrast, borrowing someone else's audience, credibility and creative equity has got easier and cheaper.
Digital ads keep cost money, and it's harder than ever to get noticed organically. So in a world hit by economic instability, brands are looking for ways to grow that don't just mean spending more cash.
Teaming up with another brand is one answer: some platforms selling collaboration tools claim it can cut the cost of winning a new customer by around a third. And there's seems to be evidence for that.
Deloitte's 2026 Consumer Products report found that 73% of retailers and consumer goods companies are now collaborating more than they used to, and 86% of those said it had boosted sales. When that many brands say the same thing is paying off, it's worth paying attention to it.
How to do it right
So what separates a memorable collab from a forgettable one? In a word, fit. The strongest partnerships make sense to audiences before anyone has to explain them. If people need convincing, the pairing wasn't right in the first place.
Take Erewhon and Barbie. The cult LA wellness grocer and the toy giant built a limited-edition smoothie and in-store experience around Barbie's pink universe and Erewhon's health-food aesthetic. It worked because both brands are cultural symbols with devoted, aesthetics-obsessed followings already performing that lifestyle online.
Sometimes, fit shows up in the smallest details. The Taylor Swift and Toy Story 5 tie-in leaned on the shared "TS" initials; reinforcing cohesion without needing a headline concept. Lego has built similar credibility over 25 years by fitting itself naturally into Star Wars, Marvel and DC, so the crossover appeal reads as earned rather than bolted on. Now, in 2026, you can buy your outfits for Olivia Rodrigo Lego figures in Fortnite. (As a 56-year-old man, I probably won't, but it's nice to know I could).
That's not the only way to go, of course. e.l.f. Cosmetics and Liquid Death is a pairing that shouldn't work on paper: clean, accessible beauty meeting an aggressively unhinged canned water brand. But here, the mismatch is the point; the creative tension is the hook. Their Lip Embalm sequel sold out across all six flavours within a single day this January.
It's important to recognise that not every collab is built to last. There's a real difference between short-term buzz and lasting brand equity, and it's worth knowing which one a client is actually asking for.
Heinz and Absolut's cooking sauces began as a joke, spun out of a viral TikTok penne alla vodka recipe, yet became an ongoing product line rather than a one-off stunt. That's the exception, though: most collaborations chase a moment, not a legacy, and depth of integration tends to decide which is which.
Key takeaway
The takeaway for creatives isn't just that "collaborations are trendy". Brands increasingly need strategists who can translate a partnership's internal logic into a story an audience will believe, while understanding that consistency and governance matter as much as the initial idea. It demands finding the shared thread between two identities and making it feel obvious in hindsight.
And as more brands treat collaboration as an ongoing strategy, the demand for people who can pitch, write and shape that story, and keep it consistent once it scales, is only going to grow.
