Bi-Weekly-ish newsletter #45 w/ Puma x Al Hilal ๐โฝ๐พ, McDonald's x Palace ๐๐ฐ, Prof G x Marcus Collins๐จโ๐ซ, Hip-Hop x Brooklyn Public Library X MTA๐ค๐๐ and You x Your Favorite Artist ๐ฅ๐ต๐!
Dear reader.
Edition number 45 of the bi-weekly-ish newsletter by yours truly, Marcel Alexander Wiebenga. You're probably starting up regular work life again while simultaneously melting in your office chair.
This edition is all about cultural collaborations.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think.
1. Puma x Al Hilal
It was inevitable that Saudi football clubs, driven by their ambition to redefine their global image, would eventually use their financial power to create captivating, dare I write, spectacular brand content. This content covers everything from player introductions to kit releases and is reminiscent of the communication strategies used by many European clubs.
The first one I've noticed is the one linked below for Al Hilal Football Club, who, over the past few months, acquired the likes of global football sensations such as Mitroviฤ, Malcom, Koulibaly, Rรบben Neves, Milinkoviฤ-Saviฤ and the cry baby you love to hate Neymar. This week, Puma introduced a new Al Hilal kit by showcasing the team's perseverance and combining art, tradition, and innovation to celebrate a new chapter for the club.
The old Roman concept of "bread and circuses" to politically distract the masses with basic needs and entertainment seems to be a weapon that Saudi Arabia, through their football teams, is fully wielding.
Al Hilal and other teams right now are not only gaining recognition in the world of sports but are also starting to integrate with our cultural identity through films like the one below. Inevitably, this might lead to a point where we become distracted enough to overlook unacceptable situations, all partly due to an execution (pun intended) that is carried out with the greatest of finesse.
2. McDonald's x Palace
Recently, someone explained to me why the cultural phenomenon of "collab" defines our modern age. Whether you agree with this statement or not, collaborations between companies, where they join forces to achieve mutual marketing, promotional, or business objectives, have taken surprising and often successful forms. Take, for example, the Lego x Levi's collection, the Ikea x Off-White partnership, or the Ben and Jerry's x Nike collaboration. Joining this list is a recent collaboration between skate brand Palace and fast-food giant McDonald's.
The collaboration, officially titled "PALACE MCDONALDS," in all caps, features 15 pieces of clothing ranging from T-shirts and hoodies to co-branded skateboard decks. Complementing this fashion line is a billboard and video campaign that underscores McDonald's position as a cultural icon by cleverly weaving in fragments from films and series that mention McDonald's, like Pulp Fiction and Seinfeld.
To top it off, limited edition "As Featured In Meals" are available in selected restaurants.ย
Marketing in and of itself adds value through the vehicle that is a brand, allowing individuals to express themselves through consuming these products. McDonald's and Palace found an intelligent way to capitalize on this.ย
The irony, in the most literal meaning of the word, is lost on me personally when it comes to wearing McDonald's branded clothing or paying extra for a meal with limited edition packaging, and I am not alone. In his review, Fast-food-YouTuber-with-2.5M-followers, The Report Of The Week, disappointedly states that it is the exact same meal you would have gotten the week before for half the price.ย
The irony is likely supposed to escape me, seeing as I am a man about to turn 45 next week. Un-ironically, I do find all of this very fascinating.ย
3.ย Prof G x Marcus Collins
I learned about writer Marcus Collins during a recent episode of the Prof G podcast. In his book, "FOR THE CULTURE: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be," Collins delves into the themes I described above.
Marcus Collins wears multiple hats. He's the head of Strategy at Wieden+Kennedy New York and a clinical assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan. In his book and during the podcast discussion, Collins presents a clear argument: culture is the most potent vehicle for brands to influence human behavior and provides a roadmap for harnessing culture, creating meaning, and inspiring people to rally behind a shared vision.
Al Hilal, Puma, McDonald's, and Palace all understand the power of culture in shaping consumer behavior and seem to have taken pages from both the book and / or segments from the interview in which Collins aptly states:
"Because of who I am, I see the world a certain way. I share a way of life with people like myself. Then, I express who I am through cultural products. The literature that I read, the music that I listen to, the movies that I watch, and the brands and products that I consume."
In today's world, brands no longer solely serve utilitarian purposes but carry immense social value. They answer profound questions about our identities. What does a brand convey about me as an individual? How does it signal to the world who I am?
I thoroughly enjoy almost all Prof G podcasts, but this one specifically, and I'm currently wholly involved with the book. Podcast below, book right here.ย
4. Hip-Hop x Brooklyn Public Library X MTAย
And continuing how culture is the most powerful tool to change behavior.
Forget limited edition sneakers, football kits, and collab skate decks; the most sought-after merchandise last month was found in public libraries in Brooklyn. In collaboration with Jay-Z's entertainment company, Roc Nation, the Brooklyn Public Library celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop by issuing limited-editionย library cardsย featuring the Brooklyn-born rapper.
The cards have added 14,000 new accounts in just one month. Given that, in contrast to the year 2000, the number of library cardholders in the Netherlands has dropped by a significant 44%, Dutch libraries could certainly take a page (pun intended) from this approach
Not only the Brooklyn Public Libraries but also the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is using membership cards to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. A collaboration with Universal Music has seen the MTA release limited-edition MetroCards featuring LL Cool J, Pop Smoke, Rakim, and Cam'ron, all New York-born.ย
I love everything about this.
5. You x Your Favorite Artistย
What could be even better than owning a library card, a metro card, a t-shirt, or a strange brand x band collab of your favorite artist? How about owning a slice of their music, a piece of the very songs that have soundtracked your life?
During this Golden Age of copyright, artists like Bieber ($200M), Bob Dylan ($300M), and Beyonce ($1B), along with many other A-list talents, have sold their catalogs for immense sums to investment and music companies. Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis describes songs as "an asset class more reliable than oil or gold, impervious to economic and political upheavals. Classic songs offer predictable, reliable income in an unpredictable world.โ
While mostly (major) record companies engage in this practice, new platforms like JKBX are emerging, allowing music fans and traditional investors to own royalty shares in songs from their favorite artists. JKBX, launching on September 12th, lets fans buy, trade, and sell these shares, offering a slice of the income generated by specific songs. Comparable platforms like Songvest currently have auctions live with shares in tracks by Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj, with recent sales including Nas's "Affirmative Action" and related compositions like Drake's "Mob Ties" that samples the song.
In an era when artists rely on cultivating superfans, royalty shares are a superfan-developing, growing, and enabling product. These platforms are poised to reshape the music industry in intriguing ways.
Thanks for reading!
Enjoy the weekend!
Marcel