According to Henry Chesbrough’s seminal text ‘Open Innovation’, “Partnerships are both a form of open innovation and a means of accessing external knowledge to find new ways of doing things.”
That being said, all partnerships essentially do one or a combination of four things:
They also vary in scale—ranging from a more temporary brand partnership such as a joint marketing campaign to a longer, much more involved partnership—like a joint venture in which two or more partners may create new products or services to bring to market.
The most fundamental goal of any partnership, however, is that it must be of equitable value to all parties and create a win-win situation.
Here are three golden rules to ensure your brand partnerships are a success:
It is critical that you clearly identify the value your brand brings to the table ahead of any partnership conversations. Then once you have established how your value intersects with the value brought by any proposed partners, you will be able to clearly define the ways in which the partnership will enhance your businesses and the additional value generated for the consumer.
What are you both looking to achieve? When creating a partner strategy it is important to identify a joint vision upfront and agree key principles that will guide how partners work together. These will provide the foundation for how you each interact and collaborate.
When separate entities collaborate, objectives and agendas don’t always align—a joint vision and guiding principles help to mediate differences.
Finally, it’s important to establish the parameters of working together by mutually agreeing the roles and responsibilities of each partner. List the goals each party wants to achieve, the metrics you will be using to measure the results, and specific timelines for achieving those results.
At the Marketing Store, we operate a seven step process to ensure every partnership campaign is a resounding success:
Reach out to us if you’d like to learn more about how smart brand partnerships can support your business growth.
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