Several recent collaborations have given rise to limited-edition products inspired primarily by the common regional roots of the two partners.
In the craft beer industry, where local and limited are key tenets, Naragansett Beer teamed with Bananagrams in August for a banana-and-clove-infused Hefeweizen as part of its “Hi Neighbor” series of brews. Both companies are based in Naragansett, Rhode Island. Other products in the series are inspired by Rhode Island companies including Del’s Lemonade, Autocrat Coffee, and Allie’s Donuts.
Similarly, in 2015, Fulton Beer and General Mills partnered for HefeWheaties, a craft brew that hinged on the two companies’ Minneapolis origins, along with their common use of wheat. The wheat-milling industry was integral to the region’s early development.
Other examples of regionally driven product partnerships extend far beyond craft beer, and far beyond the U.S. market. Luxury designer Dolce & Gabbana, for instance, paired with high-end appliance manufacturer Smeg in spring 2016 for a series of hand-painted refrigerators to celebrate the two brands’ Italian heritage.
In some cases, the regional tie is not the primary reason for the partnership, but is touted in marketing materials supporting the collaboration. That is the case for Wendell August, a premium metal giftware marketer, and its just-announced deal for a Pittsburgh Penguins 50th anniversary collection. The limited-edition product line consists of a bronze-and-Swarovski-crystal ornament, as well as glassware, metal serving trays, and additional ornaments, all handmade and numbered. Wendell August, located just outside Pittsburgh, has worked with the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, a youth-oriented nonprofit tied to the NHL team, prior to this deal and is stressing the two parties’ ties to the city of Pittsburgh as it recognizes the anniversary.
Last week, the NFL took the local-partnership trend national, pairing 30 of its 32 teams with music acts from their respective home regions for a series of t-shirts that depict the artist’s name or logo combined with the name, logo, or other symbol of the team. The acts cross genres and time periods and include All Time Low (Baltimore Ravens), Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (Cleveland Browns), Frank Sinatra (New York Giants), Dierks Bentley (Arizona Cardinals), ZZ Top (Houston Texans), and Fall Out Boy (Chicago Bears).
Localization has been a design trend for several years, with licensed products often including city names or other iconography to give merchandise a local spin in each sales area. Deals such as the ones outlined here take the trend one step further by bringing in two partners with common geographic roots, combining them to create something unique, and doubling the amount of local interest.
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