How to make a brand partnership that lasts

In the early noughties, two of the world’s most well-known and perhaps well-loved brands decided to come together and embark on a relationship that is still ongoing today.

Over the years, Nike and Apple have made a commitment to helping each other, from their first joint venture into the innovative realm of bringing sport and music together, to a sustainable, mutual respect for creating value for their customers.

And the reason that it’s been such a successful partnership? They have both looked through a future lens to anticipate the needs of their customers - who they know inside out. Through shared values, shared goals and a partnership built around a multi-year strategy, they have truly shown others how to make a brand partnership that lasts.

So, how can this be replicated? It’s a long road to reap the benefits of a co-branded relationship and here’s what you’ll need to do.

Firstly, what is a brand partnership?

When two, or more, brands come together to collaborate and pull resources to achieve a defined goal, this is a brand partnership.

There are many different ways for a partnership to happen. A partnership could be a short term relationship for a specific marketing campaign or it could be a longer term partnership that is more strategic and aims to achieve a number of goals over time to benefit both brands and their customers.

There are also different layers of partnership deliverables, from joint marketing activity, to the creation of a new, co-branded product, and everything in between.

What are the benefits of a brand partnership?

As fun and exciting as a brand partnership can be for those involved with its creation, there must always be a purpose behind a partnership for all brands involved. Much like any marketing activity, without clear goals then you won’t see the benefits.

For a successful partnership, the ideal scenario is that through your shared vision, you create greater value for both brands, as well as your customers. This can lead to entering new markets, growing target audiences, increasing brand recognition and perception and ultimately, driving growth.

More recently, is the idea of partnerships to achieve a shared mission. This can be part of a corporate social purpose or community commitments to play a more significant role than simply to generate revenue.

How to establish a brand partnership

To build a partnership that lasts, it needs to start with the right components. When you’re starting out on an ambition to create a brand partnership, there are a number of rules you should follow to ensure success later down the line.

1. Choose your partner wisely

The great thing about partnerships is that you can be a bit creative when it comes to who your partner is. You can look outside of your industry and break free from the competition. However, in doing so it’s important to identify a partner that is a good fit for your brand. It has to make sense and there has to be enough similarities, values or shared goals for it to work.

2. Know what you want to achieve

Before setting out to contact perspective partners, be very clear internally, with sign off and buy-in from everyone that needs it, about what your goals are and what your brand wants to achieve from the partnership. When approaching your partner be very clear and up front about why you would like to work with them.

3. Take your time to build the relationship

Although you want to be clear about your aim of the partnership when you first make contact with your partner, you should take time to build the relationship first, before jumping into a partnership. This allows both brands to understand if a partnership will work, how it will work, who will be involved and any issues/opportunties that need working on before signing up.

The core principles of a successful, long-lasting partnership

Once you have agreed initially to go ahead with a partnership and before you dive in, take a step back and ensure that the partnership is going to be built to last. This involves laying the right groundwork. Along the way, there may be bumps in the road, different stakeholders may enter the scene, goals may be missed or compromises may have to be found but with these things in place, you’ll stand a better chance of being the new Nike x Apple (if on a smaller scale).

1. Know why you decided to partner and make sure you remember this

Whether it’s shared values or a shared vision, always keep the reason why your brands have come together at the forefront of all decisions. If you lose sight of this, things can start to unravel as you lose your common purpose.

2. Set expectations, limitations, vision and boundaries

At the start of every partnership, ensure time is taken to understand what each brand can bring to the table. It’s important for everyone to understand the resources available, budgets, internal business goals, pressures and anything else that could affect the success of the partnership.

3. Ensure the value created is on all sides

This means for the brands involved, as well as customers. The partnership should create value for each brand over time and customers should be able to easily understand what’s in it for them too.

4. Be open, honest and communicate

A partnership requires everyone to be equally invested. If there isn’t a continued sense of openness and communication, it can quickly start to break down the trust in the relationship.

5. Build the partnership together

Both brands must be actively part of all decisions made. Make sure you all understand the stakeholders that require oversight of decisions being made and ensure an agreement from everyone is made before any action is taken.

6. Create a future proof strategy

The last, but very important principle for ensuring your partnership is built to last, is creating a strategy for the partnership over a defined period of time but built to be flexible and adaptable. The strategy should include who the target audience is, the objectives and KPIs and a clear and detailed plan for achieving the goals.

Following this guide may just help you find and make new connections that will continue for years to come. However, please get in touch if you would like support in making the first steps or to discuss your brand partnership strategy.