- Co-creation with artists and designers refines branding and builds cultural capital
- Non-traditional brands are becoming culture shapers, too
- Community-building requires long-term investment and support
- Physical spaces augment digital marketing efforts as interactive touchpoints
- rue engagement means nurturing shared values
Key takeaway: Brands that partner intentionally with designers to provide experiences that shape community will define culture, not just sell into it.
A recent increase in collaborations between brands and the design world illustrate that the consumer market today is less about product, and all about collective purpose.
McKinsey & Company has defined three eras to articulate evolution in the way brands have gained presence over time 1. The first: Mass media. Second: Personalization. And finally: Community.
Swiss label On Running (which recently dropped a collection with Loewe) is a best-in-class example of a brand adopting a community-first ethos, making it an identity, and implementing that value across its retail 2 and work 3 environments.
1Community is the “big idea” in 2020s marketing, according to McKinsey & Company, who advocates for utilizing the community flywheel model across.
2Conventional retailing is bolstered by panels, workouts, and events at On's flagships, including its bustling Paris Champs-Élysées and London Regent Street addresses. The latter is inspired by an interactive science museum.
Positioning technology and innovation at the fore, its convivial flagships function as meeting points for runners and the active class worldwide.
Diana Dowling, Head of Retail Design at On, said that special attention was paid to design as a “new dimension to present [On's] apparel offering” upon the opening of Paris Champs-Élysées location.
Cartier needs little introduction, but design-forward initiatives also give the brand leverage for meaningful world-building.
3The dynamic atmosphere to be found at On's retail spaces originates at its Zurich headquarters, designed by Spillmann Echsle and Specific Generic. “Today, nobody returns to the office simply to have a desk,” says David Allemann, On cofounder. “That's why the social interaction among our diverse teams is a focal point at On Labs. Because by living our shared culture, we stay creative and innovative.”
4On show until October 13, 2025, the Women's Pavilion exhibition in Osaka is an educational journey crafted around the perspective of Mexican climate activist Xiye Bastida, Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto, and Sudanese poet and activist Emi Mahmou. Cartier also supported the Women's Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai.
For the Osaka 2025 Women's Pavilion 4, it worked with artist and stage designer Es Devlin to create an audiovisual experience raising awareness about inequality through the experiences of three women.
Housed in a pavilion developed by architect Yuko Nagayama, the exhibition is augmented by a multi-sensory journey curated by actress and filmmaker Mélanie Laurent, and a dialogue space.
Luxury fashion brand Golden Goose is also in on the idea with Haus, a cultural platform that has permanent “creativity and craftsmanship” spaces in Venice and Mexico City, with prospective locations in New York, Ginza, and Istanbul.
Haus is fueled by partnerships between the brand, designers, and artists, empowering co-creation around everything from shoemaking and DJing to tailoring and screenprinting.
In May, artist Marco Brambilla unveiled Altered States — his first extensive show in Italy 5 — at Haus Venice, in line with the Biennale of Architecture 2025's opening.
Following the lead of fashion, lifestyle, and hospitality brands, entities that may have not been considered “brands” before — like banks and museums — are following suit, exercising their image and place in culture to improve how they reach and retain audiences.
Australian financial institution Commonwealth Bank made headlines for launching CommBank Connect, an owned media network geared at “deepening the connection between content and commerce” 6 across all phygital channels.
5To realize Marco Brambilla's multisensory exhibition for the latest installment of its Haus of Dreamers events, Golden Goose worked with Jérôme Sans, curator and cofounder of Palais de Tokyo. Performances, workshops, and talks accompanied the occasion, which also marked a year of operation for Haus Venice.
6“We know leading global brands are growing their owned media channels to deliver more dynamic, relevant, and valuable experiences. We're excited to be enhancing our digital and physical channels to better support our partners and advertisers in reaching our customers, who can then connect more effectively with the brands they love,” says CommBank Chief Marketing Officer Jo Boundy.
Such networks, which give companies the opportunity to forge more direct relationships with consumers, have been called the future of advertising.
In this light, it's not unreasonable to think that every organization will become a brand — at least in some way, shape, or form.
But with community building also comes the responsibility of maintaining and supporting a community. Brand collaborations can give way to new types of relationships with multidisciplinary designers able to double as social facilitators.
Design, for instance, can extend the impact of partnerships like that struck between TikTok and meditation app Headspace 7.
For World Mental Health Day 2024, up to 20,000 global creators were provided six months of free access to Headspace.
The aim was to generate safer shared digital spaces and amplifying wellbeing online, a mission TikTok has been pursuing with a wider base of experts, partners, and mission-driven organizations through in-app content and educational resources.
As Ally Heinrich puts it for Harvard Business School: “A strong brand community extends beyond customers; it includes collaborators who help shape and refine the brand's offerings.
“By treating these collaborators as design partners, businesses can gain deeper insights into their challenges while fostering a sense of ownership and pride in the brand's success.”
Brands that invest in relationships that span physical spaces, digital platforms, and shared values are those who understand that community isn't a marketing tactic — it's a futureproofing strategy.
7“With millions of people coming to TikTok to share their wellbeing journey with others, we know how important it is for people to have access to reliable information and resources about mental health,” explains Valiant Richey, Global Head of Trust and Safety Outreach and Partnerships at TikTok. The partnership with Headspace “strengthened how [TikTok] supports [its] creator community.”
