This post was created in partnership with Collectively
For many heritage brands, trust has been built over decades. These brands have proved their worth, and in many ways, have built emotional connections with their consumers.
But in today’s creator-led culture, that’s not always enough. The new challenge is generating hype and creating viral moments that win over new generations and show a brand’s relevance.
During a Brandweek 2025 session co-hosted with Collectively, Dana Paolucci, head of PR and influence for Dove North America and Raven Walker, VP of client partnerships at Collectively, discussed the new strategy for placing creators at the very foundation of their ecosystem.
A partnership built for speed and safety
Paolucci and Walker made it clear that culture-hacking campaigns don’t appear out of thin air. They are built on exceptionally deep, collaborative partnerships.
Paolucci explained that this foundation of trust is the nonnegotiable component that allows a global brand to take smart risks.
“I think one of the most important reasons why it’s valuable to have such trusted partners is you’re able to move at speed, but safely,” Paolucci shared.
Creating hype from a cookie craving
That partnership was put to the ultimate test with the breakthrough Dove x Crumbl collaboration, a launch that threw the traditional marketing playbook out the window. Paolucci’s team identified the fan desire while Walker’s team was tasked with bringing the hype to life, especially for creators.
“It’s also the first time we actually launched a partnership or any Dove launch in this way. It was very nontraditional for us, extremely social-first,” Paolucci noted.
Instead of a top-down announcement, they strategically played into the existing fan culture.
“They’re obsessed with ‘leak culture,’ so one of the most important elements of our strategy was leaking this news. We leaked it on TikTok. We leaked it on Reddit. We DMed super fans and super fan accounts,” she continued.
The pre-launch buzz built up for weeks, creating a genuine “Is this real?” moment online.
“We also leaked it on Walmart.com, but we never actually made the announcement until Dec. 25. So there was almost a whole month where there was pure speculation,” she added.
Walker’s team also masterminded a mailer, sending a special box set of the new product directly to super fans.
“It was our love letter to the super fans,” Walker explained. “And every single piece of content that we saw was just joyful; it was authentic. And we fed the fandom, baby.”
