When historians look back on 2020, they’ll be astounded by the tidal wave of logo collages retailers released this year. Especially when they realize Nike x Supreme x Adidas x Stussy x Bape x Kith x Off-White x The North Face x Chinatown Market x Palace only counted as one.
To Retail Brew’s readers, two offerings stuck out among the many brand names joined by an “x” in 2020. One updated ye olde celebrity brand ambassadorship to new heights; another fused the iconography of two iconic brands with a luxury twist. Let’s take a closer look.
Drive thru drive
McDonald’s barely had to lift a fryer in its first celebrity collaboration since its early 1990s McJordan burger.
For a fall partnership with rapper Travis Scott, the chain restaurant remixed existing menu items into a $6 Travis Scott meal. The duo also released a line of menu-inspired merch.
- For McDonald’s, the partnership allowed it “to advertise to young people without all the burdens and potential misfires of actually advertising to young people,” the NYT suggested.
- For Scott, scale for his personal brand was the most enticing ingredient. He’s forged all sorts of corporate collab ties—with Nike, with Fortnite, with General Mills—without diminishing his selling power.
This meal satisfied. So much so, ingredients for the bundle sold out at several franchises within eight days of launching.
- McDonald’s Q3 same-store sales rose 4.6%, exceeding soggy expectations from earlier in the pandemic.
- Scott earned around $20 million total through the partnership, Forbes reported. Only roughly $5 million came from the meal itself; the other $15 million came from the co-branded apparel and McNugget pillows.
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Second servings? Shortly after, McDonald’s released a meal with singer J Balvin. McDonald’s also told investors that more celebrity collaborations were headed to next year’s menus.
Sneakers du jour
There’s a sneaker collab for every Twitter thinkboi. But Dior x Air Jordan still outpaced them all to become fashion search engine Lyst’s hottest collaboration of 2020.
What made it possible?
Brand balance: Air Jordan owner Nike wanted to secure its first true luxury partner. Dior wanted to introduce its brand to younger customers with savings to spare. So the two landed on an “Air Dior” design with the luxury brand’s fabric on the Nike swoosh, for a casual $2,000–$2,200.
Sku scarcity: Luxury isn’t just a matter of price, but a matter of access. So Air Jordan and Dior limited production to 13,000 pairs, with 5,000 pre-designated to Dior’s “top clients.”
The remaining 8,000 pairs were sold via international online draw—with five million global participants, the brand told WWD.
Looking ahead...Air Jordan and Dior execs haven’t indicated that v2 of the crossover will ever hit shelves. But of the dozens of Air Jordan collabs out there, this one’s worth revisiting: The sneakers are being resold on StockX for as much as 300% more than their sticker price, Lyst reports.