Unexpected Brand Collaborations Drive Growth Across Beauty Gaming and Food
Here are three clear takeaways you’ll learn when reading the article:
How unexpected brand collaborations — like Charlotte Tilbury with Formula 1, Fenty Beauty with Riot Games, and Le Creuset with Pokémon — can unlock new audience segments and measurable engagement.
Why data-driven insights into hidden audience interests are critical for shaping bold campaigns that spark authentic participation and user-generated content.
What communicators can apply from these case studies to expand reach, fuel innovation, and strengthen emotional connections with multi-dimensional audiences.
Audiences are embracing brand collaborations that defy traditional categories, creating new lanes for marketers to connect with consumers.
The Tubular Labs 2025 report, Unexpected Partnerships: Unlocking New Opportunities, argues that “audiences are far more multidimensional than traditional targeting might suggest.” The research shows that today’s leading brands are exploring adjacent audience interests to inspire fresh content themes, product innovations, and strategic partnerships.
One standout case comes from Charlotte Tilbury, which partnered with Formula 1’s F1 Academy to promote female empowerment in a male-dominated sport. “Representation of women in sports, diversity, and inclusion means so much,” said Charlotte Tilbury, founder of the beauty brand. The partnership generated 9.6 million TikTok views and 852,000 engagements in one year. Tubular reports that audience overlap between beauty and Formula 1 content increased by 97 percent from June 2024 to July 2025, while overlap with content about British driver Lewis Hamilton grew 117 percent.
In gaming, Riot Games teamed with Fenty Beauty on an Arcane campaign that brought virtual characters to life through makeup. Tubular called it “a masterclass in cross-vertical storytelling” that encouraged fans to generate their own content. The results were dramatic: 59 million TikTok UGC views and 1.6 million Instagram engagements. The report emphasizes that “it’s not enough to slap a logo on a partnership campaign,” advising instead to “create ways for audiences to engage and interact to fuel UGC and make a lasting impact.”
Food and cookware offered another surprise. Le Creuset’s Pokémon collection, launched across Asia, bridged food, gaming and nostalgia. An ASMR unboxing video on Instagram amassed 15.3 million views and 459,000 engagements — 139 times and 216 times higher than the brand’s typical averages, respectively. Tubular noted, “Collaboration inspirations could include future tie-ins with anime, retro games, or classic cartoons that similarly tap into emotion and boost shareability.”
For communicators, the report’s findings offer three lessons. First, data can expose hidden audience passions, such as the link between beauty fans and racing. Second, collaborations succeed when they inspire active participation, not passive consumption. Third, exploring adjacent categories can spark innovations that deepen emotional resonance.
As the report concludes, “What stands out in social video today is the unexpected. Seek out collaborations with surprising audience overlap, and co-create partnerships around shared values, such as empowerment or nostalgia.”
