Most often associated with sneaker and streetwear brands, “drops” are increasingly landing across multiple licensed categories.

The controlled, largely surprise release of limited items has become a go-to strategy for both digital and physical goods as brands seek to build customer loyalty and community engagement. In most cases, it’s a limited-time offer more designed to create buzz than drive revenue.

For example, the NFT drop service Swappable is partnering with digital fashion brand Another-1 to launch a 5,555-unit NFT NTR1-Meta sneaker collection starting March 17. The collection allows NFT holders to wear the shoes on the digital platform Decentraland, trade them on Swappable, or exchange them for a physical pair.

Brooklyn-based collective MSCHF, meanwhile, launches a viral stunt that it calls a drop every two weeks. Last year the company drew a lawsuit from Nike over its “Satan Shoes” collaboration with musical artist Lil Nas X, which resulted in huge headlines.

“The drop culture is driven by sneaker culture and it’s being adopted to become the normal part of a deal,” an executive at an apparel licensee said. “No one is getting rich with these, but everybody is talking about it.”

That conversation is increasingly focused on a younger generation of consumers attuned to rapid changes in fashion and other categories, and eager to seek unique collaborations that can become part of the cultural zeitgeist.

Mattel’s Barbie gained a seat at the dinner table last fall when it licensed Italian pasta maker Pasta Di Martino for Pennette Rigate pasta, with a portion of the sales going to the Food For Soul charity. And that was after Pasta Di Martino developed a co-branded fulsillata casareccia pasta with fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana.

“It is about limited edition, a short time frame, and the collaborations should be a little unexpected and lean into things that make your brand bigger because of the combination,” said Roz Nowicki, head of global consumer products and franchise marketing at Mattel. “It gets you into the cultural relevance that you want to maintain for your brands and also demographics or local collaborations that will greatly increase visibility.”

And while these drops may take up to 18 months to plan, they are likely only available to purchase for a period of a few weeks. That means the collaboration needs to gain visibility quickly, hence the need for a drop that’s as much a newsmaker as it is a physical or digital product. Additionally, brands face the dual challenge of appealing to their fans while also attracting as broad an audience as possible.  The drops also are testing new formats. For example,  “micro-collabs” are marketed through ecommerce for as short as a week or a month, while stratgeic limited-time offers are sold for a season through a retailer or as part of a collection, said Brand Central CEO Ross Misher, whose agency represents  Kraft Heinz.

“The idea of collabs definitely has staying power,” Misher said.  “Consumers continue to talk about the hottest collab and try to get that tee or jacket before its off the shelves or the collection sells out.  Retailers continue to look for new ways to drive traffic and collabs draws in fans. But the exclusivity and quantities are starting to change within the collab space.”

But all of that planning can become the foundation for a long-term partnership if the drop is successful. For example, Kontoor Brands’ Lee denim brand recently launched co-branded Smiley apparel to mark the latter’s 50th anniversary, extending an agreement that started in 2018. And licensee Unique Vintage, which first partnered with Mattel in 2017, recently released Barbie-themed apparel that plays off the fashion doll’s 1970s style.

“[The drop strategy] is important to establish your brand in other categories and for social relevance” Nowicki said.  “There are kids that are growing up and they are about to be these consumers and they are seeing brands they want to lean into. [Drops] will never go away because it’s such a valuable opportunity.”