Companies are crossing borders and are trying out novel collaborations.

A few years ago, the marketing industry was still relatively conservative, and the scope of collaboration was quite narrow. Working within the same industry was just about it; but recently, we see more collaborations that cross industrial borders frequently. There are countless collaboration products and services pouring out from fashion and food, food and automobiles, distribution and publication, you name it.

This is the change that began to take place as the 2030 generations became the axis of consumption market. Their consumption trend can be defined by the expressions ‘Funsumer’ and ‘Cost-to-Fun Ratio.’ Funsumer, a new word created by combining ‘Fun+Consumer’, refers to people who consider fun as well as the product function an important element in the purchasing and consuming processes. They do not just stop at purchasing and consuming; they tend to reproduce their own consumption experience. They usually use their SNS to share it quickly within a short period to create big ripples in the consumption industry. Cost-to-Fun Ratio also refers to the tendency of pursuing greater fun against the cost. In other words, the 2030 generations are consumers who are willing to spend their money on fun products and services. What strategy do we need to target them to a tee? In search of the answer to this question, we looked into some novel collaboration cases that are being very well received by the consumers at the moment.

Revolt of Flour that Broke Down Territories

Beer and popcorn created by the convenience store and the flour manufacturer together were very popular (photography source. BGF retail).

The company that made headlines with its novel collaboration is Daehan Flour Mills Co., Ltd. Daehan Flour Mills Co., Ltd., famous for their product ‘Gompyo flour’, made headlines since last year when they launched Gompyo padded jackets with a fashion brand and Gompyo flour cushion with a cosmetics brand. The Gompyo popcorn, Gompyo wheat beer and Gompyo nacho they launched with convenience store CU are not just popular with the 2030 generations but also with those in their 40s and 50s. Gompyo wheat beer sold all 100,000 of its first batch of supply in just 3 days, and the sales for Gompyo popcorn which was launched last year increased by 40.7% than the previous week. The strategy of realizing the cozy appearance of Daehan Flour Mills Co., Ltd.’s mascot, a big white bear, and the brand’s retro font and packaging seems to have hit the right chord with the consumers.

What Happens If Convenience Store and Book Combine Powers?

The convenience store and the publication industry have together launched a product package.

There is also a case where two industries that seem to have nothing in common launched something quite special. Convenience store CU launched a limited amount of 50,000 home convenience meal Tteokbokki product which was inspired by the best-seller 'I want to die, but I still want to have Tteokbokki' The book cover design was realized onto the product package while product information such as recipe and storage guideline were designed like a yellow Post-it to accentuate the sentiment only a book can convey. The limited-edition bookmarks were also given out.

Convenience store 7/11 collaborated with the literary publisher Changbi and the food brand Binggrae has launched 2 types of drinks: milk tea and Americano. Quotes from the writer Hwang Jeong-eun’s fiction 'We will go on' and the poet Lee Jenny’s 'Maybe Africa' were tastefully printed on the product packages. They plan to continuously introduce other packages with quotes from various literary works.

The Cool and Tasty Fashion Industry

A drinks brand’s limited-edition backpack is being resold at a higher price than its original price (photography source. Musinsa homepage).

There was a collaboration that targeted the young fashion people. The Chamisul backpack, which was extremely popular last November with its limited sales of 400 products, was created by Hite Jinro and the online fashion commerce company Musinsa. This bag was made in the shape of ‘Chamisul original’ pack soju with the warning ‘excessive drinking will cause stroke, loss of memory, or dementia’ and the red Chamisul logo. This backpack went viral among the younger generations and was sold at a price that was more than twice its original price in the second-hand market. When people continued to ask for a resale, Hite Jinro carried out an additional sale for limited 400 units in January.

It was also inspiring to see the sandwich brand Subway work with the sports fashion brand FILA. FILA collaborated with various brands such as Chupa Chups, Gundam and Battle Ground. This time it was to introduce 24 types of products designed with Subway logo, menu graphic and their signature colors (yellow, green, white) including clothing, shoes, accessories, etc.

Automobile X Fashion X Food, a Fun Collaboration

The automobile industry is also carrying out collaborations with food and fashion businesses.

The automobile industry is also keen on novel collaboration. In 2019, Hyundai Transys carried out an upcycling project with the American eco-friendly fashion brand Zero + Maria Cornejo where they transformed car seat leather into clothing. It was not only a great opportunity to show how disposable materials from a car could be recycled but also a positive note on synergy created beyond industries.

This year, it was Kia Motors with GS retail. With Covid-19 ongoing, ‘Chabak’, which is all about sleeping and eating in cars, became popular, and both companies’ main products - SUV Seltos and meal kit brand SimplyCook came to collaborate. The two companies prepared a giveaway for cool bags designed with Seltos and SimplyCook graphics as well as the SimplyCook best product prize event. The cool bag giveaway was carried out on a first-come-first-served basis until August 14 at the GS Fresh Mall for consumers who purchased more than 3 SimplyCook products, and was to be automatically finished when the prepared 5,000 units were all given out.

As novel goods are receiving great attention, fake goods that are not actually released are also getting popular.

As more businesses carry out novel collaborations, and such goods are getting popular, companies have started to produce fake goods contents, which are about products that are not actually launched. In July, Hyundai Motors made images of Sonata lipstick, Palisade seat chair, Santa Fe wheel fan and Grandeur perfume; shared them on their SNS; and had people vote on something that they would like to see being launched. Consumers had fun participating in the creative fake goods event and shared the contents with others.

Professor Philip Kotler, who wrote 'Philip Kotler’s Marketing 4.0', said, “As the structure of society gets complicated, and we are more materially abundant, consumers will pursue fun.” As competition in the market gets fiercer, and we are experiencing overload of contents, it truly seems that the answer to the currently static marketing strategy depends on the ‘fun’ factor. Hence, almost every day we are hearing the news of novel collaborations. Here’s looking forward to innovative collaborations which bring energy onto the consumption market.