As an employee, I consider open and honest communication to be of the greatest importance. Everyone should feel comfortable asking questions, pushing back, or compromising (to some extent!) And having a good idea of expectations, schedules, and how the collaboration will work.
I would also say freedom is important in creating, and I would expect a partner to push back at times, but not necessarily to stifle creativity, just to control it / help it make sense (someone who may be able to work together may have little job knowledge) of the brand’s development process or real demographics while the brand has more experience so it can provide useful guidance!).
Last but not least, a commitment to quality – and that means product quality, but also quality of customer service and problem solving as soon as the cooperation is approved. As an employee, much of this cannot be in the hand / control, so this must be rewarded by the brand.
As a consumer of collaboration products, I want to see something that reads authentically for the partner, both in terms of the colors used, product types, names, etc. Brands should be ready to stock up or otherwise have excessive quantities so that they do not go so quickly are sold out that many people are out of luck.
– Christine
