He reached out to Surreal co-founder Kit Gammell “with a left-field idea,” asking if the two could collaborate. They agreed on a theme for their effort: the music of electronic duo Daft Punk. There was no logic to it, really. But McEntee, who is involved with much of Gymbox’s creative output, had held onto a line he’d written referencing a Daft Punk song that had been rejected for another campaign.

Gammell knew the founders of Numan and Cheesegeek, and from there the match was made. Each brand was responsible for designing its own creative putting a spin on the Daft Punk title. 

To break down the campaign’s tagline: “Harder” references Numan, “Feta” is for Cheesegeek, “breakfaster” represents Surreal, and “Stronger” stands for Gymbox.

Tapping into the cheese market

The brands ran the campaign at a subway station in London and shared it on social media. 

Along with a high number of views, each company saw an influx of new followers on their social channels. Gymbox reported a 113% month-on-month increase in traffic to its website, with the growth largely coming from markets outside its U.K. home base, including the U.S., Australia and Europe, where it is looking to grow. 

Buzz aside, the biggest benefit to the brands from this strange experiment has been that “it allowed all of us to capitalize on each other’s audiences and do something completely unique,” McEntee said. “There are consumers in the erectile dysfunction or cheese space who have never heard of Gymbox and were opened up to a new brand.” 

One question remains: From a marketing standpoint, how do you follow a cheese, cereal and Viagra collab? 

“We don’t rest on our laurels. We’re open to whatever we feel pushes the boundaries of creativity,” McEntee said. “Maybe we’ll do a six-brand collaboration next time.”