Post by Neal Stewart
I build brands for a living and teach Social Media Marketing at WVU. I’ve done it at Yuengling, PBR, Dogfish Head, Dan-O’s and more. I write a newsletter called Brands Hooking Up.
For decades, private label brands competed on one thing: price. Target is changing all that. Their Good & Gather brand is now on its third named collaboration, this time with James Beard Award-winning chef Roy Choi. Before him, it was Chef Ann Kim and Pitmaster Rodney Scott. No stunt collabs here. This is a collab STRATEGY that is locked in on cultural relevance, exclusive drops and partnering with names that actually mean something. And they're doing it with better margins and guaranteed placement. In this week's Brands Hooking Up, I break down why Good & Gather's collab strategy is a bigger deal than it looks, and the one question every CPG marketer should be asking about their own brand right now.
