Collaboration, not competition, is the name of the game for a group of independent, Australian-owned retailers that teamed up last week in a marketing campaign designed to combat the usual post-sale slump following Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The campaign saw e-commerce companies Hunting for George, Birdsnest, FitMyCar, TinyMe, Edible Blooms, Flora & Fauna, Mountain Bikes Direct and Wild Earth join forces to promote shopping at independent retailers in the lead-up to Christmas.

Jonno Rodd, head of marketing at online homewares retailer Hunting for George, who organised the campaign, said he wanted to create a different type of message in a period that tends to be littered with sales promotions.

“There is always a lot of sale messaging during this time of year and I wanted to change the focus. I wanted to create a campaign that was free to be involved, mutually beneficial and easy to execute,” he said.

The campaign launched across each brand’s blogs, email lists and social media last week on Tuesday, November 27, taking advantage of the fact that many consumers were still in a shopping frame of mind following Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But rather than pointing customers to their own products, each retail owner shared which of the participating independent retailers they were planning to buy from and why.

While Rodd said it’s too soon to attribute specific returns to the campaign, he said the customer response has been positive.

“We have had new customers on live chat all this week just browsing and reaching out to us to say they are inspired and love all the products,” he said.

Julie Mathers, founder and CEO of Flora & Fauna, said it was “refreshing” to partner with like-minded businesses in an industry that is typically more competitive.

“When independent businesses come together powerful things can happen which is what we love. It’s a David and Goliath moment!” she said.