The Rise of Brand Partnerships

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS IN 2016

2016 was the year brand partnerships transcended from a mere trend, to an essential part of any marketing director’s annual strategy.

I’ve seen first-hand that there is a real desire for brands to collaborate with one another, to tackle similar marketing challenges and to do something fresh and creative that enriches consumer audiences’ interactions.

It seems as though brand marketers are finally cottoning on to the fact that working together to create a meaningful partnership is not only financially beneficial, but also creates a multitude of content assets and unique experiences that will bolster the brand’s overall image.

2017 – THE YEAR OF THE PARTNERSHIP REVOLUTION

Partnerships in 2017 will evolve as brands seek more strategic partners.

In a strategic partnership, the assets a brand has at its fingertips are hugely important. The use of consumer data is now crucial in the marketing landscape, meaning the volume of a brands customer data is central to peaking the interest of prospects and sealing the deal.

Consumers engaged through CRM and credible popularity on social media can also be useful to a brand partner, keeping one eye on how a collaborative marketing campaign can leverage multiple channels and convert consumers.

These partnerships can be highly lucrative, but it is now more than just a first deal. Working together collaboratively to solve long standing marketing challenges is the key to putting a smile back on the customer’s face, and boosting loyalty!

WHY DO BRAND PARTNERSHIPS EXIST? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Brand Partnerships have been very successful over the past few years and are activated to tackle issues like driving footfall, boosting acquisition and retention rates, enhancing customer satisfaction, and rewarding loyal consumers. Their success over the past few years has seen these formats become an integral part of the marketing mix.

It’s long been known that consumers who are rewarded for their loyalty spend more as a result. By initiating the right partnership, you will be able to reward your customers in new and exciting ways, making them more enthusiastic to spend because of the improved benefits they receive. This will undoubtedly have a positive impact on your business bottom line.

These added benefits and experiences will engage and heighten consumer opinion of your brand. Whilst driving advocacy and brand reputation through User Generated Content (UGS) and peer-2-peer (P2P) recommendations. Third party endorsement is vital.

SHOULD YOU BE THINKING ABOUT A PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY?

Short answer, Yes.

It will be an integral part of your competitors’ strategies. Over the last three years I’ve seen pretty much every B2C sector brand delve into partnership marketing, with a number of them reaping enviable rewards.

A successful brand partnership, done right, will undoubtedly have a positive effect on your sales figures, your customer satisfaction rates and will enable you to create new found connections.

A successful partnership starts with a well informed and insight led targeting strategy. Understanding what your target audience is doing, what challenges they face, and understanding what their goals will be. Moreover, you must demonstrate a strong proposition and be able to showcase what the benefits of working with you are.

The brand, is essential.

WHO’S NAILING BRAND PARTNERSHIPS?

To give a bit more context about ‘what good looks like’, Manchester United and Uber recently announced a new global partnership, creating a dedicated ‘Uber zone’ at Old Trafford to help fans arrive and leave the stadium on match days.

Over the coming months, Uber will also enable fans in over 30 countries around the world to connect with the club through a number of experiences, including behind-the-scenes content for customers and drivers in over 30 countries.

This is a prime example of a strategic partnership. Clearly it will enhance the experience of the football club’s fan base. From Uber’s point of view, access the global footprint of the club including opportunities to access the social media assets is a huge incentive.

Furthermore, Spotify has secured various ‘Branded Moments’ partnerships named Chill, Dinner, Focus, Party, Sleep, and Workout. Each of these focuses on a specific sector and the ‘Spotify and Chill’ moment has resulted in the recent partnership with Danone and Bose.

The brand team over at Danone knows that the target audience for Light & Free, its new product, has a real interest in music and so is leveraging this insight with the Spotify partnership. Not only is it promoting its products, but also connecting more with consumers by creating experiences in people’s homes.

Bose uses the partnership to promote its headphones through the channel and making the most of an exciting opportunity to reach Light & Free’s consumer audience through one of its main passion points.

HOW INGENUITY CAN GENERATE BRAND PARTNERSHIPS LEADS

Ingenuity works with marketing teams from Thorpe Park, VUE Entertainment, HP and Virgin Red, to help identify and meet with new potential brand partners.

These partnerships are a “win-win” for both parties, delivering great results whilst reducing marketing spend internally.

We’re an outsourced strategic new business function for brands who seek to meet other brands. We match your requirements with others sharing a common agenda, and unlike other partnership agencies, we make the meetings; you make the deal.

If you’re interested in learning how to make meaningful partnerships a valuable weapon in your marketing arsenal, feel free to drop me an email to discuss.

[email protected]