Snowboarding Collaborations. Huh? LOL! WTF?

By
drexnefex
– April 7, 2009

Here at nwBro we’re a bit confused on the collaboration hype that has gripped the snowbroindustry.

As a consumer, collaborations between companies leave us scratching our heads thinking,  “why?”  Companies invest so much time and money to develop an identity, why would they do something that undermines that effort?  Isn’t cultivating a name and logo into distinct recognizability important to the success of a company?  Don’t you want to stand out from the rest of all the “great ideas?”

I could see a boost in sales or exposure coming from a collaboration, but that’s short term.  Eventually that fad will fade and you risk diluting your company image.  What are the long term benefits?  Are there any?  Am i whining?

Please educate us snowbroindustry marketing guy…

There are definitely some collaborations that are weirder than others.  Here’s a few i stumbled across.

Weird Collaborations:

  • Spacecraft & Smith
  • Spacecraft & Lib
  • Spacecraft & K-fed
  • 686 & Kr3w
  • Union Binding & Snowboard-mag
  • Sessions & Metallica

smith_spacecraft spacecraft_lib spacecraft_kfed

686k3rw union_sb-mag sessions_metallica

Completely Legit Collaborations:

Non-Existent Collaborations that would be acceptable:

  • TechNine & Gun Oil
  • Trilogy Arts & ZigZag Rolling Papers
  • Arbor & Patchouli Oil
  • Bitch Boards & Pepper Spray

Alas, pop snowboarding is largely influenced by fads and hype.  Who’s got the next rad sticker, trick, lingo, gimmick, style, graphic, etc, etc, lol.  By nature, fads fade.  Maybe the collaboration is a fad?

Anybody come across any other snowboard collaborations?

ps.  Thanks to all the companies listed above for having a sense of humor and thanks to South of the North, snowboardseattle.com and snowboard-mag.com for images.