Is Product Marketing and Collaboration Still Strategic, or Has it Become Performative?

In today’s consumer-driven landscape, where products are constantly promoted across nearly every platform, important questions emerge about the goal and effects of marketing. Are campaigns and product launches solving consumer problems, or primarily competing for attention in a crowded digital environment?

Brand equity is a concept crucial to long-term business building. It is the perceived value a company creates, traditionally built through consistent and quality customer experiences. Recently, however, viral marketing has become a common approach to drive visibility and cultural relevance. While these moments can generate significant engagement, their contributions towards long-term brand value is less certain.

Collaborations, in particular, use cultural relevance and alignment to capture attention and connect with shared audiences. A recent collaboration includes BÉIS, the modern luggage brand, collaborating with Chipotle to release a silver and brown collection inspired by the food chain such as a silver burrito-holding bag. Marketing stunts like this definitely spark conversation and generate short-term buzz. At the same time, they prompt greater reflection of its effects on long-term brand-positioning, cultural impact, and customer utility. Similar efforts, such as the Heinz Barbiecue and Wicked's 400+ brand partnerships, illustrate the increase of these marketing trends.

Within influencer marketing, we see similar dynamics at play where brands routinely provide creators with high-value products as a part of promotional efforts. For example, the phone case brand Velvet Caviar, gifted new iPhones alongside their product. While these strategies boost wow-factor and reach, they also raise questions about consumer alignment, sustainability, and lasting value.

Together, today’s marketing points prompt a much larger challenge in modern marketing: balancing capturing attention with building long-term brand equity. From a design-centered marketing perspective, collaboration is only strategic when it reinforces brand meaning and user value. While many marketing tactics succeed in generating conversation, when product novelty outweighs functionality, efforts can suggest prioritizing short-term visibility over stable growth. As brands compete for attention in the oversaturated market, marketers must consider how to tap into trend-driven strategies, while maintaining authenticity and sustainability.