Once in a while when we see good branding/marketing examples, we want to share them as an inspiration for us, our clients and the readers of our blog. This time we focus on an interesting collaboration between a local (Australian) artist and a global denim brand: The Black Math x Wrangler Australia.

It definitely is the era of collaborations: a relatively new marketing tool for brand positioning and target group strategy. The most visible collaborations manifest on a global level like A.P.C. x Nike, Walter van Beirendonck x IKEA, H&M x Balmain. Where at first a collaboration between brands was distinguishing and credible on its own, now the market is flooded with all sorts of collaborations. Making it more and more difficult to be credible and unique.

In general, we believe there are 4 critical factors that determine collaboration success:

Compatibility – Does the collaboration partner’s identity and yours match together?
Credibility – Does the audience understand and believe in the collaboration?
Timing – Is the brand you are choosing to work with in touch with the current Zeitgeist?
Distinctiveness – Is the collaboration unique and different?

Wrangler Australia just gave us the right example by teaming up locally with underground artist The Black Math who designed prints and patterns for sweaters, t-shirts and denim. The new line launched in May 2015 and is available online.

What makes this particular example interesting? Where collaborations usually play out on a global x global or a local x local level, the collaboration of Wrangler is one where global meets local in full effect: exploiting the advantages of Wrangler’s global status  (worldwide media coverage and visibility) and The Black Math’s underground en unique signature.  The two brands operate on their own local soil which binds them and makes the collaboration credible. Furthermore, the collaboration is surprising and unique, making it distinctive.

Yes, we can simply conclude this is one of those matches made in heaven.

Watch the Black Math x Wrangler movie here.

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