Brands, icons, and sports teams pairing up to create great work.
Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate partnerships. And this year, it’s one to celebrate great brand partnerships. When brand partnerships play in culture, embrace humour, or stand for something, they can transform work from good to great.
Last weekend saw a myriad of celebrities pairing up with brands for the infamous Superbowl commercials. While some argue that ads which feature celebs can fall victim to the ‘vampire effect’, when a celeb overshadows a brand, Uber Eats and superstar, Cher, demonstrated how partnerships can work well through humour and storytelling.
Natwest was another brand that became part of an effective pairing. Alongside extending its partnership with Team GB, the bank announced its new sponsorship of Paralympics GB. A significant indicator of brands working to close the sports sponsorship investment gap.
Perhaps the most unexpected of all, food and beverage brand, Knorr, teamed up with dating app, Tinder, to produce ‘#UnlockYourGreenFlag’. Embracing the romantic spirit, the work by MullenLowe helps Gen Z singles level up their dating game by adding cooking to their profile. The unlikely pairing was brought together through insights that show food and love make the perfect couple.
These perfect partnerships show that bringing two things together can open up the door for new, creative thinking.
Uber Eats has been known to work with celebrities, and its latest work for the platform, ‘Get Almost, Almost Anything’ features singer and legend, Cher. Embracing her icon status, the new campaign plays on her infamous hit, ‘Turn Back Time’, by utilising the homophone of ‘time’ and ‘thyme’.
In a humorous series of events, Cher orders a time machine on Uber Eats after reminiscing about the 80s and is transported not to the 1980s, but the 1680s. Here, villagers accuse her of being a witch, before singing a medieval rendition of her hit song. The short film ends with ‘Time machine? No. Thyme? Yes. Get Almost, Almost Anything on Uber Eats’.
The campaign is an example of work that effectively makes the most of its celebrity. By leaning into an existing image, adding a comedic twist and retaining the brand’s cheeky tone, the partnership drives home Uber Eats’ message without losing the brand in the process.
Helping to close the investment gap in sports sponsorship and drive inclusivity, NatWest became the official banking partner of ParalympicsGB. After extending its existing partnership with Team GB, the bank solidified its spot in supporting Great Britain’s sporting excellence.
The sponsorship will support athletes through the Milano-Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, offering athletes tangible support like access to NatWest products, services and support tools.
By broadening its relationship to include Paralympians, and approaching its sponsorship with Team GB and ParalympicsGB the same, the bank demonstrates that sporting excellence is sporting excellence, without exceptions or considerations.
Sometimes the best partnerships aren’t the most obvious, as is the case for Knorr and Tinder in ‘#UnlockYourGreenFlag’, created by Mullenlowe. Based on the insight that Gen Z finds cooking to be a dating green flag, the campaign encourages young singles to add cooking to their dating profiles.
Leaning into culture utilising humour, Knorr and Tinder are helping consumers to up their dating game. The work demonstrates how almost anything can be a dating red flag, but that in a sea of red flags, there is an almost universal green one: cooking. In fact, cooking is the ultimate green flag for 93% of single Gen Zs, with as many as 88% being more likely to connect with someone on a dating app if they can cook.
As part of the campaign, Tinder is providing helpful cooking tips to those who add the feature to their profile, and creators on TikTok have been enlisted to share even more useful tips on both cooking and dating. Embracing the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the partnership provides tangible help to young singles looking for love and demonstrates the creative power of a good match.
Looks like you need to create a Creativebrief account to perform this action.
Create account Sign inLooks like you need to create a Creativebrief account to perform this action.
Create account Sign in
