Ritualized collaboration has become a trend where companies team up to create extraordinary products. Examples discussed include Alexander Wang collaborating with H&M to make his high fashion designs more affordable, and COMME des GARCONS and Bape collaborating to satisfy all demographics with a highly sought after product. The document also provides examples of collaboration between Gillette and Marvel's Avengers and Dodge collaborating with the Fast and Furious franchise to promote new movies. Ritualized collaborations are effective at driving consumers between markets and creating buzz around new products.

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Introduction:
Ritualized collaboration has become a big trend in the business world where two companies
team up to create something extraordinary. When companies collaborate, it could be because
of many purposes. One is to drive people from one market into another, such as when
Alexander Wang collaborates with Beats by Dre to bring people from the high fashion world
into the world of music. Another reason why businesses would collaborate is to use the best
of both of their abilities to come up with a product that reflects the best of both companies
(ex. Raf Simons x Adidas)
A recent collaboration that is worth mentioning is Alexander Wang x H&M in November
2014. Alexander Wang is a world renowned fashion designer & H&M is a retail store that
specializes on 'fast fashion' which is good looking
clothing for cheap. When Alexander Wang &
H&M collaborated, they created garments that not
only have the distinguish Alexander Wang look to
them, but they also are H&M affordable. This
allows people who could not normally afford
Alexander Wang to buy his high fashion collection
for a very good price.
Collaborations can also be used to bring two businesses in the same market to come together
and create something that much better. One example is the collaboration of both COMME
des GARCONS, and A Bathing Ape (Bape). Both COMME des GARCONS and Bape are
Japanese clothing brands that have a worldwide popularity with both different and similar
demographics. When both of these powerhouses collaborate, it creates a product that satisfies
all areas of the demographic and results in a highly sought after product. The products
included the classic ribbed collar most notably found on the COMME des GARCONS PLAY
shirts and featured the famous camouflage print that is exclusive to Bape products.
Background:
Collaborative marketing otherwise known as Co-Marketing is often confused with co-
promotion. Collaborative marketing is when two separate companies with completely
different products with different attribute, distribution channel and marketing strategy
companies share the same marketing purpose goal and objective and merge their marketing

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practices together in order to make profit. This is not only sharing content and information
but also about bringing ideas together forging all the resources and helping each other’s share
of customer.
Without realizing it, we have all been partners in collaborative marketing. Most of the credit
card companies collaborate with retailers, airlines, hotels and boutiques to give you a one-
stop shop. In the same way you can offer a similar experience to your customers based on
their needs. As a small business owner one needs to be
inventive while the other should involve the partners in the
process. With the help of social and print media and the field
work needed to engage the partners and customers to
experience the brand and the customer base stronger. But by
keeping in mind that not too much money and time can be
wasted in preparing for this marketing campaign, the
companies need to be swift and smart in order to implement
the ideas , and depending on the budget of their promotion and
understanding of how well can they team up with their
partners.
The first step in marketing should be to identify the partners, and keeping in mind that the
target market should be the same or should have common features between the product that is
being collaborated. After which we will try and find a consultant who can choose a launching
platform for advertisement in these case the local consultants would be the best as they know
the taste and perception for the target consumers, in that case it’s a win situation
Secondly the preference of the target market should be identified , is the young crowd
targeted for which social media should be extensively used as they are into social media a lot
or should print media be used depending on the budget where would we want to invest.
These type of collaborations can be overwhelming the companies should try and have more
and more options and be positive , they should just think about the whole process and
understand where can they be wrong and try to make amends for that and run a successful
collaboration. A very good example of collaboration is ritualized collaboration, as consumer
can’t focus on one thing making; things like superhero skin care, bear branded denims and
designer head phone collaboration are making the market.

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Discussion on the Trend:
The days of singular products are numbered as the notion of co-branding and collaboration
take center stage in the market. Iconic products or celebrity endorsements are pushing into
new areas of marketing that ritualize two seemingly separate products. Creating a market
where one seemingly requires the other to be complete, brands are evolving the traditional
notion of collaboration to the point of perceived dependence for consumers looking for ways
to expand their own personal repertoire of brand prowess.
Ritualized collaboration has become a big trend in the business world where two companies
team up to create something extraordinary. When companies collaborate, it could be because
of many purposes. One is to drive people
from one market into another, such as when
Alexander Wang collaborates with Beats by
Dre to bring people from the high fashion
world into the world of music. Another
reason why businesses would collaborate is
to use the best of both of their abilities to
come up with a product that reflects the best of both companies (ex. Raf Simons x Adidas).
A recent collaboration that is worth mentioning is Alexander Wang x H&M in November
2014. Alexander Wang is a world renowned fashion designer & H&M is a retail store that
specializes on 'fast fashion' which is good looking clothing for cheap. When Alexander Wang
& H&M collaborated, they created garments that not only have the distinguish Alexander
Wang look to them, but they also are H&M affordable. This allows people who could not
normally afford Alexander Wang to buy his high fashion collection for a very good price.
Collaborations can also be used to bring two businesses in the same market to come together
and create something that much better. One
example is the collaboration of both COMME
des GARCONS, and A Bathing Ape (Bape).
Both COMME des GARCONS and Bape are
Japanese clothing brands that have a worldwide
popularity with both different and similar
demographics. When both of these powerhouses collaborate, it creates a product that satisfies

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all areas of the demographic and results in a highly sought after product. The products
included the classic ribbed collar most notably found on the COMME des GARCONS PLAY
shirts and featured the famous camouflage print that is exclusive to Bape products.
Finally, another reason why business may collaborate is to create more exposure for a
business. One example of this is when French based clothing brand Pigalle teamed up with
sporting powerhouse Nike to create a line of products that gave much exposure to the brand
Pigalle and at the same time, looked very good. Pigalle created a whole line of basketball
gear featuring their own & Nike's branding and used older Nike basketball sneaker
silhouettes to add their own touch of luxury that the brand is known for by making them all
leather (which isn't exactly most efficient for playing basketball.) This helps for both brands
because it makes consumers feel safe knowing that they are buying a brand that they are
familiar with while also trying out something completely new.
Relevant Examples of Ritual Collaboration:
Gillette’s Ritual Collaboration with Famous Movie Franchise “Avengers”:
IN 2015, the producer of the world’s top men’s shaving brand Gillette has collaborated with
famous comic book movie franchise “Avengers” for promoting their new movie “Avengers:
Age of Ultron”. For promoting a big budget movie like “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, Gillette
has come up with a big marketing campaign
which includes launching of new avenger
signature razor. They have launched a new razor
the Fusion ProGlide with FlexBall technology
which has created hype among the customer in
global market. But the interesting part of this
campaign is Gillette has designed some special
range of pretend Avengers-themed razors which are they designed inspired by the
superhero’s costumes and their power sources. They have made some commercials which
they have broadcast in Youtube and it got more than 3 thousand likes with more than 2
million views. This ad made a positive vibe among the customers and increases the sale of
Gillette’s new Fusion ProGlide razor. Overall we can say that, by doing ritual collaborative
marketing campaign, Gillette has gotten massive attention of customers and also done a lot of
business in global market.

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Dodge’s Ritual Collaboration with Famous Action Movie Franchise “Fast and
Furious”:
The famous American car company Dodge has also done a ritual collaborative marketing
campaign for another famous action movie franchise “Fast and Furious” for promoting its
latest movie “Furious 7” which also got the attention of customers as well as the marketers
around the world. Dodge, which has been a part of the blockbuster Fast & Furious franchise
since its inception, announced today a promotional partnership with Universal Pictures for
"Furious 7", and for the first time, Dodge is broadening its long-time partnership with an
innovative new Atlantic Records collaboration that truly expands the power and reach of the
‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, and provides a natural extension for showcasing Dodge’s most
powerful new performance vehicles.
Dodge’s cross-branded campaign includes television spots for the United States and
international markets, social media and digital marketing campaigns, and a special “Furious
7” landing page on the brand’s website, which explores Dodge performance cars: the Dodge
Challenger SRT Hellcat, Charger SRT Hellcat, Charger R/T Scat Pack and Charger 392
HEMI Scat Pack Shaker. The cross-promotional spot for the U.S., via Doner, uses the tried-
and-true, aspirational-fantasy car leitmotif: A guy perusing cars at a Dodge dealership hops
into a Dodge Challenger R/T, and notices a poster for the movie on the showroom wall. He
grabs the wheel, and we are transported to world of the movie, ending with a shot of the late
actor Paul Walker's character hanging from off of a cliff from the spoiler of a fishtailing
Challenger. Back to reality, and the guy is also hanging from the spoiler of the car while a
salesperson watches. Voiceover says “It’s not ‘Fast and Furious’ without a Dodge. ‘Furious
7’ in theaters starting April 3.”This marketing campaign was so successful that it grabs so
people’s attention and increase the sale of Dodge’s car quite high.
Beats Audio’s Ritual Collaborative Marketing for FIFA World Cup 2014:
Maker of some of today's most popular consumer headphones, earphones, and speakers,
Beats by Dre is executing a formidable digital campaign: The Game Before the Game. And
it's taking Twitter and YouTube by storm. The campaign promotes the electronics company's
new Solo2 and Beats Studio headphones, and marketers for the brand hope to reignite the
desire for Beats products that has arguably waned in recent months. The social campaign
provides fans an intimate look at some of the game's star players in their pregame rituals—
wearing, of course, Beats headphones. Tapping into the social culture of the brand's younger

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audience, Beats' hashtag, #GameBeforeTheGame, and its poignant video have already gone
viral.
Consumer Adoption of Ritual Collaboration:
There are five stages in the consumer adoption process. Stages of Consumer adoption on
ritualized collaboration are discussed with example below.
Product Awareness: In order to make collaboration a success, it is must that the
collaboration gets enough awareness among the targeted people. Speaking of Ritualized
collaboration, the first step is always easy, as it creates much hype. When P&G collaborated
with Stark Industries to bring out their new product line for Gillette for Marvel’s Avengers:
Age of Ultron, it could draw their target audiences’ notice and interest. The promotion did
not clearly tell when this product line will be coming, but due to mass interest it could get the
product awareness.
Product Interest: In this stage consumers are
ready to learn more about the product and / or
service. Right after the hype about the
collaboration, people became much interested to
know where to get this line of products. So, as
soon as they reached their targeted awareness,
they launched an online competition of winning a
set of the razors signed by Stan Lee to build the
target audiences interest in it.
Product Trial and Evaluation: Prior to purchasing, consumers examine, compare and
evaluate the product. Such behavior increases in intensity and need once the item in question
is more expensive, sophisticated and complex, or critical. Consumers are searching for
information. The above stated competition surely gave a chance to the winners to practically
use the product and share their experiences in their network. Thus, the consumers can easily
evaluate, whether it is worth the hype.
Product Adoption: When the consumer enters the product adoption phase, he/she is ready to
purchase your company product. This is the critical stage that businesses need to get their
consumers to. When the customer is here, you need to make the payment process simple,

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intuitive, and pain free. In addition, you need to ensure that the consumer can easily obtain
the product. If you make it to and through this last phase successfully, than you can take
money to the bank –A job well done!
How to Capitalize on the Trend:
Some leading companies have developed a strategy to avoid these pitfalls, by reinventing a
model that’s been in use for years — shared services. Marketers first adopted shared services
more than two decades ago with a specific goal: to slash expenses by consolidating the work
they had been giving to a number of advertising agencies for research, media buying, and
creative development. They soon added direct marketing execution, performance
measurement, customer data processing, and lead management to the mix. Today, marketers
are taking this model a step further, to build and share more advanced capabilities —
including Web 2.0 technologies — that can be leveraged across business units. By creating
centers of expertise and scale and freeing up resources that had been dedicated to low-value
and often overlapping tasks, companies can deepen their marketing excellence even as they
reduce operating costs. This goal is a key imperative for chief marketing officers, who face
growing pressure to respond to the digital revolution under increased budget scrutiny. Indeed,
some early adopters of this model have achieved efficiency gains of 15 to 20 percent.
Conclusion:
Collaborations used to bring two businesses in the same market to come together and create
something that much better. Effective collaboration is higher quality outcomes in an
increasingly interdependent any system continues to grow in importance. Collaboration is a
complex partnership. It is a process that occurs over time. It is also an outcome, a synthesis of
different perspectives, an integrative solution. It is important to remember that conflict is a
natural and expected part of collaboration. Conflict provides an opportunity to deepen
agreement. The strategic use of conflict resolution skills and goodwill power can be effective
in enhancing decision quality and team commitment. This article has offered ten lessons to
enhance collaboration. Finally, another reason why business may collaborate is to create
more exposure for a business.

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References:
1. Smith, N. (2014, June 14). World Cup Social Campaigns Score Big. Retrieved May 2,
2015, from http://www.dmnews.com/world-cup-social-campaigns-score-big/article/355414/
2. Greenberg, K. (2015, March 10). Dodge Gets Fast In 'Furious 7' Retrieved May 2, 2015,
from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/245327/dodge-gets-fast-in-furious-
7.html
3. Gillette and Stark Industries Join Together for a First of Its Kind Collaboration. (2015,
April 9). Retrieved May 2, 2015, from http://news.gillette.com/press-release/product-
news/gillette-and-stark-industries-join-together-first-its-kind-collaboration
4. Hills, A. (2015, March 9). Cars, Movies and Music Come Together as Dodge Partners with
Universal Pictures and Atlantic Records on 'Furious 7' Retrieved May 2, 2015.
5. Landry, E., Ripsam, T., & Kapoor, N. (2012, January 13). A Collaborative Approach to
Marketing. Retrieved May 2, 2015, from http://www.strategy-
business.com/article/00101?pg=all