How Beverage Collaborations Took Over Traditional Marketing Tactics
Beverage collaborations somehow became the new go-to marketing trend. From celebrities to beauty brands, everyone seems to be coming out with a beverage collaboration. The most infamous collaborations come from the Los Angeles-based luxury grocer, Erewhon. Its most famous smoothie collaboration is with celebrity skincare-brand founder, Hailey Bieber. Bieber and the grocer collaborated on the “Strawberry Skin Glaze Smoothie.”
The success and longevity of this smoothie’s popularity paved the way for all beverage collaborations that came after this one. Since the launch of Bieber’s successful smoothie, Erewhon has been releasing a month-long smoothie collaboration with a celebrity or notable brand every month, which increases brand awareness and visibility for Erewhon and the partner.
(Photo/Andrea Bonilla)
Rather than a typical digital social media campaign with efforts to increase brand awareness and visibility, a beverage collaboration provides an interactive feature to the campaign, in which the audience can actually participate. People can go to the stores, order the $20 drinks, and because of its price tag and attachment to the Erewhon brand and lifestyle, which is more on the luxurious wellness side, make a TikTok review or an Instagram story about it to let people know that they are at the “famous Erewhon.”
A benefit of this interactive feature is that the promotion, aside from Erewhon’s own social media marketing, is done organically by the consumers, and there is no need to pay anyone to do so because of how trendy these collaborations and Erewhon are. Using phrases, such as “limited-edition” and “try it,” serve as calls to action and create a sense of urgency, where one needs to try the drink before it loses its popularity and trendiness. It also encourages people to try it and feel like they are part of a bigger and trendy community.
(Photo/Andrea Bonilla)
Beverage collaborations, especially among brands that are more geared towards fashion and beauty, seem unconventional but are genius in the way they add another dimension to their branding and increase brand awareness outside of their typical realm.
An example of this is seen through a past smoothie collaboration between Erewhon and Vacation, a popular beauty brand. This brand is known for their suncare products, as well as their trendy and nostalgic visual branding. Sunscreen and smoothies have almost no connection, however, their popular drink collaboration left consumers with a desire to try the products and look into the brand, which are sold at Erewhon.
Through the success of Erewhon and chains that follow in its footsteps, it seems as though billboards and traditional ads having nothing on beverage collaborations that not only draw major attention and raise awareness for the brands and celebrities creating it, but also lead consumers to pay $20, sometimes a little more, for an Instagram-worthy smoothie.