Day: September 3, 2025

• Brand crossovers are getting more interesting, with more unexpected collaborations.
• Branding experts say the partnerships help brands break through noise and boost cultural relevance.
• Successful crossovers often capitalize on emotions and the current embrace of nostalgia.

Brand crossovers are everywhere right now — and getting weirder.

Kate Spade released crossbody bags in the form of giant Heinz ketchup packets. Urban Outfitters released a back-to-school dorm collection with Chipotle that included a lamp shaped like a bag of chips and a metallic blanket that lets you wrap yourself up like a burrito. And Tecovas released $345 cowboy boots made with the same red vinyl used for Chili’s restaurant booths and stamped with chili peppers, of course.

While collaborations like this aren’t new, branding experts said the recent — and unexpected — crossovers show just how hard it is for brands to break through the noise. Capitalizing on another brand’s “cool” can up the cultural relevance of both — but they have to watch for pitfalls.

“We have so much information coming at us every which way from our phones and laptops and everything in between,” said Anna Crowe, brand strategist and CEO of Crowe PR. “So we see these brands coming together to really create this unique, dynamic effect and get the attention of customers.”

Brand crossovers can be a relatively straightforward way to broaden a customer base. If two brands share some common through-line and a collaboration feels natural, it can be an effective way to tap into each other’s audience or double down on the existing audiences they share.

A straightforward example is Oreo and Reese’s, which launched new treats in August that combined the flavors of both iconic brands. Oreo previously told Business Insider that it hopes to leverage the partnership to tap into Reese’s cache with Gen Z.

However, even when two brands don’t necessarily seem like a natural fit, experts said they’ll typically share something that makes the crossover work, like a similar audience or a shared value. 

You don’t immediately think of designer handbags when you think of a Heinz condiment, but Megan Lang, head of global Heinz brand communications and creativity, told Business Insider in an email that the crossover with Kate Spade was “grounded in shared brand values — mastery, craftsmanship, and a commitment to the highest quality.”

The collaboration between Chili’s, a restaurant chain, and Tecovas, which sells cowboy boots for several hundred or even thousands of dollars, seemed a bit random to some consumers online. But the boots and belt in the collection sold out within minutes. Crowe said the campaign was successful because its messaging tapped into an “homage to Americana” that felt true to both brands.

Great crossovers tap into emotions or nostalgia

The best collaborations create an emotional connection with the audience, the branding experts said.

“It creates this combined dopamine effect: getting people excited, and then those positive feelings get connected back to the brand that’s introducing them,” Eric Schiffer, an expert in brand strategy and chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, told Business Insider.

As for why there seem to be so many crossovers between food and fashion brands, it could be because both are key parts of everyday life and pop culture, Crowe said. Both feel deeply personal — fashion is expressive, while food is emotional and nostalgic.

For McDonald’s recent collaboration with Pac Sun, which included vintage-inspired tees plastered with hamburgers, the announcement said that both brands were “rooted in nostalgia,” a concept that often comes up in recent collaborations.

A coming Taco Bell-Hollister collaboration, which will be officially unveiled later this year, is also betting that Y2K-era nostalgia will reel in customers, Taco Bell CMO Taylor Mongtomery told Business Insider.

Watch out for Gen Z’s authenticity radar

Crossovers generally have different goals: to surprise and delight fans, make headlines, or reposition a brand to a new audience. Authenticity is essential for any of them to be successful.

Pick the wrong brand, and a brand crossover could feel like a reach for attention. Pick the wrong time or do too many collabs, and it could come off as a bit much.

“Hopefully you’re coming from a position of strength, not a position of desperation,” said Michael Goldberg, professor of design and innovation at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

Crowe said she thinks “Gen Z especially has a radar for inauthentic moves that brands can make and can be very vocal about it online.” She said the storytelling used in the campaign can be just as important as the mash-up itself.

Business Insider previously reported that Gen Z, in particular, demands well-integrated authenticity from marketing campaigns.

While many crossovers aim to go viral, Crowe said that online attention can often come as quickly as it goes. Ideally, brands should think about how that collaboration fits into their long-term strategy and ensure it doesn’t dilute the overall brand identity.

Brands looking for inspiration could consider looking to the “ultimate cross-brand collaboration,” as Schiffer put it, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. The popstar and football star announced their engagement last month after two years of their relationship dominating headlines.

“That’s a one plus one equals 10. In that case, it’s not only positive, but both coming together create something bigger than the parts,” Schiffer said, adding they are “highly emotionally intelligent brand managers who know their audience cold.”

• I downloaded Tinder last year during a solo Europe trip and swiped right on my now-boyfriend.
• We’ve now been together for a year and are thriving despite the distance.
• Our relationship is built on intentional communication and shared adventure.

In 2024, I went on a two-week solo trip to Europe, visiting Greece, Turkey, London, and Barcelona. I was used to traveling solo and had lived in London from 2013 to 2017, so it was comfortable territory.

A few months before leaving, I put a pause on dating. I was exhausted from the dates I had been on and wanted to give myself some time to regroup. But once I arrived in Greece, my first destination, I downloaded Tinder.

I kept my expectations low when it came to dating abroad

It was the hopeless romantic in me that made the decision. I love reading romance novels and hearing stories of people meeting their partners while traveling abroad, and I secretly dreamed that I’d meet a partner outside America, but still, I kept my expectations low.

I was open to the idea of a relationship, but mostly, I just hoped to squeeze in a few cute dates and meet some interesting people along the way. Yet, my now-boyfriend was one of the first people I swiped right on.

There was an instant connection between us

My partner lives in London. We matched while I was in Greece and spent a week talking on WhatsApp before the London portion of my summer vacation. We bonded over our love of live music; he had just seen SZA in concert and sent me videos of her singing my favorite songs.

By the time I arrived in London, he had our first date planned out.

We started at Kioku Sake Bar, inside the Raffles London at The OWO, and then went to the 8 at the Londoner in Leicester Square. We shared lobster tempura with a view of Big Ben that felt unreal. Our conversation flowed, and from the moment we met, it felt oddly natural.

I messaged him the next day to ask if he wanted to get afternoon tea before I left for Spain.

I wasn’t sure if we’d continue dating when I went back to the US

Three days later, I went back to the US. Although we were talking every day at that point, I expected a few polite texts, then a slow fizzle. I didn’t want to get my hopes up — we were thousands of miles apart, and I would have understood if he didn’t want to keep up the effort.

Instead, he booked a flight to see me while I was home visiting family in Chicago a month later. And two months after that, I was back in London.

It felt bold, spontaneous, and at the same time, weirdly comfortable.

We’re long-distance now, and communication is key

In a long-distance relationship, everything feels accelerated. We had to learn how to communicate our expectations early on so we wouldn’t waste each other’s time. In those first few months, we started using an app called Just Us, which asks relationship questions from how you like to spend your alone time to what holidays with your family look like.

We’d talk about the questions over the phone; it became a fun ritual that helped us get to know each other better and opened the door for deeper conversations.

Travel brought us together in the beginning, and it still does

Not only have we visited each other where we both are from — London for him, Chicago for me — but we’ve also made memories in the spaces in between. Together, we’ve traveled to Japan, Austria, and New York. We celebrated my birthday with samba music in Brazil and wandered the shopping alleys of Paris for his.

We’ve cried (mostly me) over lost luggage, overpacked for weekend trips, sprinted for trains, and laughed through every bit of it. It’s now been a year since we met, and our relationship has been marked by passport stamps.

We’ve put a lot of intention into making our relationship work

A few months in, we created a shared Google Calendar to keep track of everything from work meetings to nights out with friends. We can see when the other person is busy, and it’s been a helpful tool for planning, especially when figuring out future trips and making the most of our time off. We also make sure to have a shared activity while we are apart, like watching the same TV show on weekends when we have more time to be on the phone.

We aim to see each other every two to three months — sometimes just for a weekend, and other times, for a week or two. Since we both travel often for work and leisure, we’ve been able to use our miles to help cover flights.

Although we are 4,911 miles apart, the distance comforts me. It reminds me that we’re both making an effort, and my individuality has always been important to me. Long-distance relationships work best when both people feel grounded in their own lives. Maintaining careers, friendships, and hobbies outside the relationship isn’t just healthy; it’s necessary.

While we do plan to close the gap one day, for now, the distance is part of our story. And to think, it all started because I downloaded an app.