How this collaborative creative marketing stunt benefited both companies, and why it tastes so good.
Back in 2020, Nike collaborated with the famous ice cream company, Ben & Jerry's, on a Nike SB Dunk Low shoe named appropriately - the Chunky Dunky (After the classic flavor "Chunky Monkey"). The shoe arrives in a pint-like-looking box and is designed with top-quality materials, all related to Ben & Jerry's brand narrative.
As a result of these two giants collaborating, we got a magnificent shoe, that is now sold more than 10X times its original price, between 1000$ to 3000$.
This collab only emphasizes Ben & Jerry's 'love brand' identity. It's cute, non-harmful, sits well with everything the brand represents, and maybe changed a few minds of people who prefer Häagen-Dazs. It puts Ben & Jerry's as a canonical brand alongside the timeless Nike, while the two brands rely on the fact there's a huge overlap between the two brands crowds. After all, there both are recreational, luxury products, relatively to other brands offering the same products.
This collaboration is a great noisemaker. It's colorful, it's clickbait, It looks like a show you won't believe is being sold in store, and it's a collaboration with a brand people love to love. It helps both brands, that rely on creativity, deliver a product outside of their regular product lines, and make a move that people will for sure hear about, and definitely, they did a great job.
The collaboration benefits Nike to associate themselves with a love brand, helping to increase their "family-friendly" audience, while helping the hyped revival of its shoe model that was originally released in 1985, the SB Dunk.
Outside-of-the-box thinking, and creative product development, are the best ways to make a positive buzz. It may not be everyone's flavor, and not everyone may buy it, but they sure consume it subconsciously.
If you want a Chunky Dunky yourself, be willing to say goodbye to at least 1500$. It's not like it's really worth that much, it's just the result of good marketing. Think of it as Art - The paints and canvas Picasso painted aren't worth that much, but combining it with the right story behind it, you got a priceless masterpiece. Most people reselling them in much over retail, don't succeed selling at that price, and most buyers don't even wear them. That's art, That's the market. It makes sense only when it doesn't.