Holly’s Christmas Trends 2022 – Part 1
Product & Selling
How to collaborate
with Vinegar & Brown Paper and Jack Laverick Ceramics
Collaboration is all about a meeting of minds. It’s that special synergy with another maker or brand that produces something special, something which is greater than the sum of its parts. Feeling confident about a collaboration requires trust not just in your chosen collaborator, but also in yourself and your brand. It’s important to know who you are and to be grounded in a strong sense of what your brand stands for before melding your creativity with another.
That’s not to say you have to be wary, but the best collaborations come from two really strong brands combining to make something truly unique that wouldn’t otherwise exist without input from both sides. Think of it as a project that you wouldn’t be able to manage on your own, but which also couldn’t become a reality without you.
You could collaborate with a brand that creates something with a similar aesthetic to you, or it could be a brand that has a totally different look and feel to yours but somehow, it completely works. Either way, a well-placed collaboration with someone who you have a creative spark with can take both your brand and theirs to another level.
How do you know if you’re ready to collaborate? It’s when you’re aware of the elements that make up your brand and you can identify another brand which would be the yin to your yang, the perfect synergy. ‘Sometimes I liken it to therapy,’ says Holly, ‘knowing your business’s heartbeat and knowing who you are as a company, knowing what your likes are and your dislikes are – the invisible bits, your values and passions.’
This requires having a healthy sense of ego – of what you’re good at, what you’re recognised for – but also a boldness, especially if you’re working on a collaboration that feels surprising and unexpected in how well it works. These unexpectedly good collaborations require boldness because others may not be convinced by how it looks on paper, but you’ll know in your gut that it’s right by how exciting it feels to launch it into the world.
How can you expect a collaboration to impact your business? The main benefits are that you:
1. Receive increased brand recognition: You’ll get more visibility for your brand than if you were doing a regular solo launch (but be assured that you’re not going to lose your brand by doing a collaboration).
2. Reach new audiences: Directly linked to this, is that the new eyes you’ll have on your Instagram and website could be a completely new audience that you wouldn’t ordinarily reach.
3. Share knowledge and creativity: Particularly if you work alone, a collaboration can be a really nice way of working with other people. You’ll also be sharing resources so you won’t be footing the bill alone.
It’s important to bear in mind though that mismatches can happen and these are emotionally draining, and of course, can be financially draining. Hopefully, if you know your ‘business heart’ you can avoid this but if it feels too early in your brand’s development to collaborate, listen to that feeling. There will always be opportunities and you don’t want to spread yourself thin when you’re still forming your brand identity.
When you’re ready to collaborate, it’s worth having a written agreement with your collaborator. Some key points you may like to include:
1. Mutual benefits: What are you both hoping to achieve from your collaboration?
2. Commitment to open communication: How often will you meet to discuss the project before it launches and while it’s running?
3. Financial commitments: Who is covering what? From materials to mailing costs, outline spend and how and when it will be compensated.
4. Clear role definitions: Who’s going to manage the project? Will decisions be joint? Is one person making while the other is working on social media coverage?
5. Timings: When does the collaboration officially end? Do you need to agree a period of time between then and a new collaboration?
6. Ownership of the product: Is it 50-50? Or is someone taking on more of the ownership simply due to the nature of the design? What if a major store wanted to stock it?
‘Sometimes I liken it to therapy,’ says Holly, ‘knowing your business’s heartbeat and knowing who you are as a company, knowing what your likes are and your dislikes are – the invisible bits, your values and passions.’
It might sound excessive, especially if you’re working with someone who feels like a friend, but having these things in writing means you both then have something tangible to refer back to if disagreements arise.
A really successful recent collaboration was between Andy Poplar of Vinegar and Brown Paper and Jack Laverick Ceramics. Andy’s thoughtful words (‘Do not let yourself burn out’) printed onto Jack’s delicate porcelain tealight holders was a winning combination that led to a sell-out product. What does Andy feel makes for a great collaboration?
‘I think for a collaboration to kind of sing, you both need to bring something to it that’s yours. I had pieces of Jack’s work, so I knew how the light flickered when you lit the candle, and that simplicity of shape is something that I’ve always liked, that iconic look of his work. It’s not until you have that thing, which you can claim as your own and then bring it to somebody else, that you can see how they bounce off each other.’
Jack agrees and shares an interesting point about what to do if you’re not ready to collaborate or really put your creative stamp on something: ‘If it was something that I felt wasn’t really right for me, I would probably go down the route of doing wholesale, where I would put someone else’s design on my work – their brand essentially.’
This kind of commission gives you a reliable source of work while you wait for the right creative collaboration to come along. Andy also feels that when you’re working on a truly creative collaboration, it’s more for the joy of it, ‘I remember sending a photo to Gabi (Holly & Co Co-Founder) to show that we’d just done it, and I was like, “I don’t care if no-one buys it, I just really like it.’’
The great thing is that when you come from a place of creating something simply because you love it, the chances are high that other people will love it too, and you’ll have a sell-out just as Jack and Andy did! When collaborations go this well, it can be addictive, but it’s good to limit them to maybe one or two a year and always return to your core products. ‘If you say “yes” to every collaboration, you’re just diluting your own brand and that’s no good in the long-term’ says Jack. ‘Be specific about what you’re taking on – how does it fit with what you do? Are you both getting something out of it?’ Andy concurs, ‘It should be an exciting prospect for everyone involved – it should be exciting for me, for the other person, and for the customers. So you can put it on social media and you can put that X sign between the two brand names and you get a buzz. You shouldn’t be founding your business on a collaboration. It should be the cherry on the cake.’
It might sound excessive, especially if you’re working with someone who feels like a friend, but having these things in writing means you both then have something tangible to refer back to if disagreements arise.
Wise words indeed – and inspiring words. If you’ve been wondering about whether to do a collaboration or this article has got you thinking, who would be your dream collaborators? Who do you think your customers might like to see a collaboration with? Perhaps there’s a collaborator waiting for you in the Holly & Co community? We’re always excited to hear about the meeting of creative minds so send us your press releases or tag us on social media to share the collaboration love!
Brand is the life-force of your business
Before embarking on a collaboration you must have a strong knowledge of your own brand, in fact it should sit behind everything that you do.