Archive | Corporate brands

Raising a Glass to Whiskey Collaborations

Brands of whiskey are long-time and still growing participants in the world of fashion. The collaborative collections of apparel and lifestyle goods typically incorporate design elements tied to the properties’ brand heritage and the distilling process. The marketing messages supporting the initiatives often call out the quality and craftsmanship of the jointly developed pieces, reflecting […]

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Sticking with Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a flavor profile that is always top of mind, but it just seems to be getting stronger and stronger as the focus of flavor-based food-to-food collaborations. The spice is perennially popular with a wide swath of consumers, it is very versatile, it is relevant both during holidays and for everyday use, and it […]

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Making News with Consumer Products

Legacy newspaper and magazine brands have been struggling financially for years, in part because of increased competition from digital news and information sites. More recently, however, the latter have been facing equally steep challenges, as consumers rely less on—and often mistrust—official news organizations and turn instead to independent, often opinion-driven sources they follow on social […]

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The Ingredients Tell The Story

Many collaborative alcoholic beverage releases involve pairing a beer or spirit with another food or beverage brand that offers a surprising but ultimately compatible flavor profile. Think Pinnacle’s Cinnabon vodka or Oskar Blues Brewery’s French’s Mustard beer. A smattering of collaborations over the years, however, have been built on the fact that the two partners’ […]

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Better Together

Licensors have over the years become more flexible in how their IP is integrated into licensed merchandise, as they look for ways to keep their properties and products fresh and embrace ideas from their licensees on how to do so. A relatively new manifestation of this trend is some licensors’ openness to redesigning their corporate […]

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A Dilly of a Trend

Pickles and pickle-flavored foods have long been popular, and they have been getting progressively more so over the years. The trend has picked up steam since the mid-2010s, with no end in sight, as sales, new product releases, and online searches are all on the rise. At the end of 2022, organizations ranging from the […]

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Protein Powders To Satisfy A Sweet Tooth

Marketers of protein powders have been expanding their flavor assortments, especially on the sweet side of the spectrum, with SKUs such as chocolate lava cake, cookies and cream, blueberry cobbler, and banana nut bread proliferating in response to consumer demand. Small wonder that licensed brands connected to candy, cereal, cookies, donuts, soft drinks, and similar […]

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A Helping of Mac and Cheese

A few months ago, we noted that cheese had become a hot commodity for food-to-food collaborations. One niche within that space that has generated particular interest of late is the ultimate comfort food, macaroni and cheese. Marketers of mac and cheese are looking to create limited-edition varieties by partnering with brands associated with compatible flavors, […]

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