New king of collaborations? The many co-brandings of CASETiFY

Key takeaways:

• Hong Kong-based lifestyle brand CASETiFY, known for its phone cases, has launched some of the biggest collaborations of the year.
• From Takashi Murakami and BMW to animated series SEALOOK, the brand has adapted artist, brand and IP collabs with ease.
• Other notable co-brandings include Hong Kong’s Ocean Park and Maison Kitsuné, among many others.

If we go back a year, the most prolific collaborators in the consumer market in China should be one of the coffee or tea brands, such as Luckin Coffee or HeyTea. As our previous article discussed, collab merch has become a sustainable business in itself, aside from being a marketing campaign. Meanwhile, toymaker POP MART and lifestyle retailer MINISO both doubled down with their IP-licensing and collaboration business. Against this backdrop, another label with constant high-profile collaborations has emerged: the phone case maker CASETiFY.

Murakami, Takashi Murakami

Usually, co-branding with artists of Takashi Murakami’s calibre is reserved for luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Hublot. Both brands created iconic pieces with Murakami’s signature floral designs. As cross-segment collaborations grow with luxury brands partnering with Chinese tea chains and coffee shops, it is unsurprising that a premium lifestyle and accessory brand could secure a co-branding with one of the hottest contemporary artists of today.

Launched on 3 April, the collaboration is the first release of CASETiFY’s latest iCON series. It features Murakami’s Mr. DOB character as its main IP partner. Mr. DOB, whose huge circular ear-like protrusions on his head resemble a certain mouse from Disney, was created in 1993 as a character in Murakami’s first manga and also serves as his stand-in throughout his work. The collection includes CASETiFY’s star items, the smartphone and tablet cases, as well as cardholders, headphones and the brand’s newest product category, 21-inch suitcases.

My other phone case is a BMW

Prestige automakers such as BMW usually have their own lifestyle brands because, like other premium brands, they often represent a certain way of living. It then requires understanding and collaboration, in the true sense of the word, rather than just putting a blue and white logo on a phone case. In this sense, CASETiFY and BMW certainly co-created something meaningful.

Released on Earth Day, 22 April, CASETiFY announced its co-branded smartphone case with the BMW Lifestyle. While it does have a blue and white logo on the back, it is also created with CASETiFY’s sustainable Re/CASETiFY material, as well as upcycled automotive aluminium from the German automaker. This makes the case, as the two brands claim, “a piece of BMW”. With a sleek and understated look, the phone case would not be out of place in a BMW car.

SEALOOK and other IPs

Of course, IPs like animated characters and mascots are a huge part of these licensing and collaborations. This is true with collaborations from tea and coffee chains, toymakers and CASETiFY too. On 15 April, CASETiFY released its co-branding collection with South Korean 3D-animated series SEALOOK. Interestingly, the collaboration uses 2D illustrations of the seals from the show. To appeal to the ACGN cohort, the co-branding collection also includes pin badges, a favourite of “pain bags” in the “erciyuan” (二次元, lit. 2-dimensional) crowd. Similarly, another notable IP collaboration from CASETiFY is with Butterbear, a mascot of a Thai bakery that went viral in China and became a popular meme and sticker IP.

Formed in Hong Kong in 2011 by Wesley Ng and Ronald Yeung, CASETiFY started as an Instagram-centric custom phone case brand before becoming the serial collaborator it is today. Interestingly, one of CASETiFY’s recent collabs was a panda-themed collection with Ocean Park in Hong Kong, a nod to its place of origin. But it is also a popular type of co-branding, that is, with viral animals from zoos. Last year, the phone case maker launched a collab with the many animal influencers of Hongshan Forest Zoo.

In the age of social media and selfies, the phone case is often the most photographed accessory a person carries. It is little wonder that its recent collaborations also include French designer fashion brand Maison Kitsuné. As people say, every brand will turn into a lifestyle brand in the future. For partners, teaming up with brands like CASETiFY, and maybe less premium ones, like MINISO, can be a great way to offer a lifestyle collection and see how their brands fit in with people’s lives.

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