Brand Collaborations Have Moved Beyond the LTO

The brand mashup is a new gold standard for capturing consumer attention. For the last few years, we’ve seen that who restaurant brands and c-stores partner with is just as important as what they serve.

Most often, we see short-lived seasonal products and menu items, but more lately we’re seeing multi-year agreements and dual-branded concepts, among other ambitious collaborations that reach far beyond a limited time offer.

The Rise of the Co-Branded Craze

Collaborations helped us see a massive shift in how LTOs are constructed. Sure, the summer sandwich will always have its place, but standing out requires more and more these days, as our information streams become noisier and more crowded. One way for brands to stand out is to leverage the equity of established flavors and household names.

Just as LTOs have helped restaurant and c-store brands test new menu items and flavors before committing recipes to the full menu, collaborative LTOs have shown those in food and beverage, as well as for other consumer brands, that such collaborations are worthwhile in the long term, too. 

Take a look at impact.com, a commerce partnership marketing platform, and its recent announcement attributing its 20% year-over-year growth to a shift in global marketing from transactional performance to relationship-driven growth. (They reported $270 million in annual recurring revenue as it closes out the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2026.) While their platform doesn’t exclusively partner brands together–it mostly connects creators and affiliates with brands–the company’s success is proof that the partnership economy is everything. impact.com supported nearly 350,000 partnerships in 2025 alone.

Advice for restaurant and c-store brands: Start small with LTOs and influencer relationships to test the collaboration waters. As things heat up and you see success, take what you’ve learned for larger, more long-term brand relationships.

Collaboration Callout: IHOP and Applebee’s Dual Branding

In February 2025, parent company Dine Brands opened its first U.S. dual-branded Applebee’s/IHOP restaurant in Seguin, Texas. This massive internal collaboration between the sister chains brings two complementary brands together to capture all dayparts and optimize operations. So far, so good, too. As of April 2026, the company has already opened 32 dual-branded locations with plans to open more. 

3 Ways Collaborations Offer Built-In Trust and Hype

The strategy behind mashups reduces risk for consumers. These days, who wants to spend all that money on a bland experience? When a guest sees a new menu item that incorporates a brand or flavor they already love and trust, the barrier to purchase diminishes. They feel more confident that it will, in fact, be a worthwhile spend.

Other advantages to brand collaborations include:  

1 – Instant Brand Differentiation

It’s a crowded market. A unique collaboration makes your menu stand out from the competitor down the street. 

Case study: Take Taco Bell’s relationship with PEPSI, which has recently expanded to include a line of “Dirty Sodas.” In 2025, there was Mountain Dew Baja Blast Dirty Soda, and now there’s a whole line of Dirty Sips. (It’s soda with a bit of vanilla cream.)

2 – Borrowing Audience Growth

Partnering with a manufacturer or another brand allows you to tap into their loyal fan base, essentially borrowing their customers for the duration of the LTO…maybe even gaining a long-term fan as a result! 

Case study: Look at Mooyah, the ever-growing burger brand, which recently opened its first site in Michigan alongside a Marathon c-store. 

3 – The Halo of Innovation

Being the first to bring a trending flavor or a cross-industry partner to your menu signals to guests that your brand is a leader, not a follower. They’ll begin to look to you for trend-setting in the future.

Case study: Look no further than McDonald’s for an example of the halo. Most recently, McD’s collaborated with the K-Pop Demon Hunters franchise to debut an LTO sauce and a version of their Shaker Fry, which has already been available in Canada for years.

Advice for brands: According to Nielsen, 45% of the general population says they are more likely to purchase from a brand that embraces their fandom. That’s almost half of those surveyed who say they are willing to buy something if it speaks to one of their favorite things. What data can you glean from your target demographic to get clear on which entertainment or lifestyle entities could make an ideal partner? Take a look at 7-Eleven’s new Slurpee merch for inspiration. Genius.

Collaboration Callout: Official Plant-Based Burger Partner of Madison Square Garden

In April 2026, New York’s Madison Square Garden established a multiyear partnership with Impossible Foods, naming the brand the Official Plant-Based Burger Partner of Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks, and New York Rangers. The agreement includes a sixth-floor concourse called the Impossible® Grille, where they will serve up an Impossible® Double Stack Smashburger, Impossible® Banh Mi Hot Dog, Orange Impossible® Chicken Bowl, Impossible® Steak Quesadilla, and Loaded Impossible® Chopped Cheese Fries.

Why Collaborations Are the New TV Ad

In a study done by emplifi, an AI-powered social media platform, the top three reasons consumers follow a brand on social media are to learn about sales and discounts, find entertainment, and discover new products. Consumers validate their purchases through social media content. In other words, consumers aren’t looking at television ads or print ads hardly at all.

Even though most consumers go online to discover and to learn about products they will buy, that doesn’t mean marketing that way is easy. It’s a crowded space. If you’ve ever managed a social media account for a business, you know it can be difficult to get engagement. This is another way collaborations can be beneficial. By partnering up and cross-promoting, you expand your social reach and invite more opportunities for sharing, liking, and commenting.

More good news…consumers report food and drink to be one of their favorite social media topics. If you can create content that looks less like an ad and more like an experience or a conversation, you increase the odds that followers will put trust in you and what you have to offer. As is often explained in marketing and advertising college classes everywhere, trust in advertising is highest when it is earned (referrals), moderate when it is owned (your website), and lowest when it is paid (traditional ads). Collaborations effectively move your marketing from the paid category into the earned category.

Advice for brands: Emphasize building alliances that create WOW rather than fighting for attention on expensive, broad ad platforms with the same ol’ same ol’.

Collaboration Callout: A WickedBrand Collaboration Campaign

A single cultural phenomenon, the Wicked: For Good campaign, drove over 400 individual brand collaborations in 2025, covering products from toys to dishwasher pods. NBCUniversal called it “one of the most ambitious and emotionally resonant global marketing campaigns ever launched.” The campaign included activations across every major category for $330 million in media and promotional value, resulting in 28 billion impressions worldwide.

Many of the brand partners were not food- or drink-related, such as Airbnb, LEGO, and Pottery Barn, but many were, including Pernod Ricard, Weee!–the online Asian supermarket–and UK brands like Butterkist popcorn and Robinsons beverages. Dunkin’ Donuts got in on the action with its Wicked Green Matcha and Wicked Pink Refresher, along with green- and pink-sprinkled MUNCHKINS® served in a collectible 10-count tin, along with other themed merchandise.

The Bottom Line

Brand collaborations are a sophisticated business strategy designed to maximize guest counts and strengthen brand loyalty. It’s not a new concept, but it is gaining traction in new ways. By connecting with the right manufacturing resources, restaurant brands can move from a simple LTO into a major brand event.

Successful collaborations require a deep network of manufacturers who can produce specific, high-quality components that are both replicable and profitable. By connecting the right people, concepts, and companies, brands can find cost-saving menu items quickly without sacrificing the wow factor of the collaboration. Contact FDR to do that for your restaurant or c-store brand.