Potential benefits

When two brands create the right synergies, they both stand to reap the following benefits:

• Increased brand reach: If each brand focuses on different market segments, it can extend its reach to the other’s audience. Two brands that serve the same market segments, however, can benefit from cobranding opportunities. If the brands can identify unique factors they bring to the table, they can overlap to create new value for their customers.
• Increased brand awareness: Depending on the success of the cobranding initiatives, the target audience has the opportunity to find out more about each brand.
• Increased sales and revenue: Cobranding can increase sales and revenue in several ways. Some brands create a new product or product line as a part of their joint venture; others have more marketing success together than they had alone; and some brand partners extend their reach into each other’s markets.
• Complementary knowledge and expertise: Partners can choose to share knowledge and expertise and to work collaboratively to overcome challenges.
• Increased efficiency and cost reductions: Sometimes, partnerships provide opportunities to share resources and streamline operations.
• Increased capital: In some instances, one brand has money, and the other is cash-poor but has something else of value.
• The ability to offer customers more: Ideally, brand partners offer different but related and even complementary products or services, enabling the brands to offer more to their customers collectively than either could as a separate entity.
• Shared risk, responsibilities, and rewards: When both brands have some skin in the game, risk, responsibilities, and rewards are shared, so that the entire burden isn’t placed on one brand, and both brands experience some benefit.

Possible risks

Partnering does carry some potential risks, including the following:

• Conflicts of interest: When partners’ goals diverge, they can begin to operate in favor of their competing interests, leading to potential difficulty in the partnership. What’s in the best interest of one partner harms the other partner in some way.
• Lost autonomy: Partners often must consult each other before making certain decisions or taking certain actions. When you have a partner, you can’t always act independently or as quickly and responsively as you’d like.
• Increased complexity: Partnerships require collaboration and coordination both of which add to operational complexity. In addition, partnerships place extra demands on management, reporting, and evaluations.
• Increased demand on resources: Although partners may gain efficiencies in certain areas, they may experience a strain on resources in other areas, due to the increased demands of managing the partnership and any collaborative projects or ventures.
• Increased exposure to public-relations crises that are outside your control: Your brand is judged by the company it keeps, so a partner brand that does or says something controversial can reflect poorly on your brand as well.

Identifying your why

Every successful partnership has a clear purpose — a logical reason for creating it. The goals of every partnership, of course, should be to improve the partners’ ability to deliver more and better goods and services to their customer base and expand that base. But I’m talking about a purpose, a why, that’s more specific, such as the following:

• To create a unique new product (a product development partnership)
• To streamline the supply chain (a supply chain partnership)
• To obtain the capital needed to fuel growth (a financial partnership)
• To obtain the technical resources to drive innovation (a technology partnership)
• To increase brand reach and awareness (a marketing partnership)

As you can see, many partnership types are available. Each type involves aligning the two brands in a way that elevates both brands.

Developing a list of selection criteria

A partnership is like a marriage, in that it rests on the foundation of compatibility. If two brands aren’t compatible, the partnership is doomed from the start, assuming that it even develops beyond the dating stage.

To ensure compatibility, use the following criteria to evaluate prospective partners:

• Comparable and complementary value: Be sure that each brand brings something to the table that benefits the other party in a different but equal (or almost equal) way.

  Don’t focus solely on what your brand needs. If you don’t deliver something of benefit to the other brand, the partnership will dissolve as soon as your partner realizes that it’s not getting anything out of it.

• Shared culture and values: Compare your mission statements, values, and cultures to ensure that they resonate with your partner’s. Your “personalities” may differ, but both brands should be on the same or parallel paths and have a similar code of conduct. If one brand has a win-at-all-costs mentality, and the other values collaboration and fairness, the two brands are likely to clash.
• Physical proximity: Give special consideration to brands near you. Collaborating with a local brand is always easier and often leads to better outcomes.
• Reliability: Be sure that you can count on the partner you choose to deliver whatever they promise — that they not only can deliver, but also will deliver.
• Honesty: Partners need to be open and honest with each other so that they both have the information they need to make data-driven decisions. If a partner withholds information or spins the narrative, it could lead you to make decisions that damage your brand.
• Integrity: Partner only with brands that demonstrate integrity — strict adherence to their code of ethics. Brands that bend the rules may bend them to the detriment of your brand. In addition, they’re at increased risk of saying or doing something that generates negative press and reflects poorly on you by association.
• Loyalty: Choose a brand partner that’s considerate and makes decisions not only in its own best interests, but also in yours.

Evaluating potential partners

With your list of criteria in hand, you’re ready to search for and choose a strategic partner. Follow these steps:

1. Identify brands that meet your criteria.

   Look for areas of overlap or common ground, such as brands that share your vision, business goals, and target demographic (see Figure 9-1). These brands are more likely to provide opportunities to serve the same customers better.

   Look within your existing network for options and referrals.

   

2. Rank the brands on your list by reputation.

   At the top of your list, include only those brands that have a track record of reliability, honesty, integrity, and loyalty. Cross off any brands that have a tarnished reputation.

3. Check for potential conflicts with current partnerships.

   If a candidate on your list is already cobranding with a close competitor of yours, don’t place that candidate in the awkward position of having to deal with a potential conflict of interest.

4. Consider proximity.

   Having a partner or brand close by can have benefits such as being able to enhance community at your location and meet frequently in person to discuss your partnership.

5. Choose among the remaining candidates.

   You may not choose the remaining candidate at the top of your list. Make sure to identify the factors that are the most important of the benefits you’ve identified.

Checking out successful cobranding partnerships

Here are a few examples of successful brand partnerships:

• GoPro and Red Bull: These two brands represent different products; GoPro sells wearable digital camcorders, and Red Bull sells energy drinks. Both brands target energetic and daring consumers, however, and they collaborate on cobranding events such as extreme sports competitions. Go Pro supplies cameras for the athletes, and Red Bull sponsors the events.
• Bonne Belle and Dr. Pepper: Can you imagine Dr. Pepper–flavored lip balm? The creatives at Bonne Belle and Dr. Pepper did just that to forge a unique cobranding relationship and product: Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker. (How cool is that?) While introducing generations of lip-balm users to the unique flavor of Dr. Pepper, Bonne Belle has used Dr. Pepper’s popularity to promote its own product. As one Bonne Belle ad states, “Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker. It’s the super shiny lip gloss with lip-smacking flavor … just like the world’s most original soft drink.”
• Uber and Spotify: The road-trip playlist has become woven into America’s cultural tapestry, so an audio streaming service teaming up with a rideshare company to create a cobranding relationship is no surprise. As Uber riders head to their pickup point, they’re prompted to connect with Spotify to enhance their journey with an existing road-trip playlist or a creation of their own.
• Kanye West and Adidas: What do rapper Kanye West and German sportswear company Adidas have in common? Nothing. But that didn’t stop them from collaborating on the creation of a new fashion brand: Yeezy, a high-end athletic footwear and apparel brand. Kanye’s celebrity status and Adidas’ reputation for quality athletic shoes proved to be a winning combination. The new brand launched in 2015, and by 2020, annual sales of Yeezy sneakers reached nearly $1.7 billion.
• Levi Strauss & Co. and Pinterest: Cobranding with a leading social media platform is always a good idea, and it’s at the heart of the relationship between Pinterest and Levi’s — the oldest and most recognized brand of jeans. The relationship gave birth to Styled by Levi’s, which offers users an online styling experience along with personalized style recommendations. Based on answers to a visual questionnaire and style insights gleaned from the user’s Pinterest activity, Styled by Levi’s produces a Pinterest board to help customers see how they can create unique styles that include Levi’s jeans.

When choosing a partner, keep your customers in mind. How will the partnership affect them? If the partnership has the potential of benefiting your customers, it has the potential of benefiting your brand. See Chapter 5 for guidance on evaluating your customer base.

Determining what you want from the partnership

The first step in forming a partnership is figuring out what you want from it (your goal) and what your partner would need to bring to the table to make that happen — what your brand doesn’t have and the other one does. To find out what that is, answer the following question:

What is your brand lacking that another brand can provide to help your brand achieve the desired level of success?

Certainly, you want to improve brand reach and recognition and to increase sales and revenue, but be more specific. Here are a few examples of specific answers:

• “My brand needs the credibility of a well-established brand.”
• “I need capital to finance my marketing efforts.”
• “I need distribution through a well-established retail channel.”
• “My brand needs product design and production capabilities.”

When house-paint producer Sherwin-Williams partnered with home-furnishings retailer Pottery Barn, the relationship provided both companies increased exposure to their shared target market: people who love to furnish and decorate their own living spaces. The partners developed an exclusive line of paints to complement Pottery Barn’s home furnishings, and a tool on the Pottery Barn website enables customers to coordinate paint colors with their furniture and décor.

Identifying what your brand needs enables you to focus your search for cobranding partners on brands that can deliver it.

Defining your value proposition

The term value proposition generally refers to the value that a company or brand promises to deliver to customers; it’s why customers choose to spend money on one thing instead of something else. When you’re pitching a partnership opportunity to another brand, however, you also need to present a clear value proposition. In this case, you’re communicating the value that your brand brings to the table or the value that the partnership will bring to the other brand.

Be prepared to change your value proposition to speak to the needs of the brand partner you’re pitching to and to the purpose of the partnership. Every partner is different, so what appeals to one may be of no consequence to another. If a brand has a much larger social media audience than yours, your modest social media following on Instagram probably won’t matter to that brand.

To identify your value proposition, take the following steps:

1. Describe your product or service, and think about what makes it valuable.

   If you have a vegan hair-care company, the value you offer is in the form of vegan-friendly products and an eco-conscious customer base. If you’re pitching a brand partnership opportunity to a large beauty and hair-care products retailer, you could highlight your brand’s deep roots in the vegan community as part of your value proposition.

2. Connect your brand’s value to the major pain points of your prospective partner’s customers.

   Your value proposition might highlight the demand for vegan hair-care products along with stories from consumers who have trouble finding such products where they normally do their shopping.

3. Highlight what your brand can bring to the table.

   Present everything your brand offers that complements or enhances the other brand. Here are a couple of examples:

   • A strong community: If your brand has a large, active community of friends, followers, and fans on one or more social media platforms, that community can be a big selling point. Be sure to include specific metrics such as the number of friends, followers, and fans and engagement stats, which reflect comments and shares. Community is difficult to build, so if the brand you’re pitching to has little to no social media, it’ll be eager to look into any opportunity to gain a social media presence with little investment on its part.
   • A unique design: A unique design, a trademarked saying that can be licensed, or strong brand colors can all contribute to an effective value proposition. My Girl Gang the Label brand formed a strategic partnership with Peanuts (yes, the comic strip) to produce an exclusive clothing collection for Nordstrom. Our trademarked phrase and brand identity, centered on female empowerment, resonated perfectly with popular female characters from the Peanuts strip. In the tag, both brands are represented to show to reflect our creative collaboration.

Pitching your proposal

Pitching a partnership proposal is like networking to get a job. Emailing your proposal to the other brand’s owner or chief executive officer would be about as effective as mailing your résumé. You’re more likely to get your proposal accepted if you build a relationship before delivering your pitch. Here are some dos and don’ts for getting your proposal in front of the decision-makers:

• Find the right person to pitch to. The person to pitch to depends on the size of the business/brand and the department most relevant to the partnership arrangement you have in mind. If you’re reaching out to a small business or a brand owner, pitch to the person in charge. For larger companies, look for midlevel management or someone in the department you’d be working with, such as the marketing or retail manager. If you can’t get in touch with someone at the top or the middle, contact another insider; an employee who’s passionate about your brand may be able to influence the organization’s leadership.

  To obtain contact information, check the brand’s or the person’s website, blog, and social media profiles. I don’t recommend making initial contact online unless you have no other option, but online resources can be very helpful in tracking people down.

• Build a relationship first. If the two brands have a shared mission and values, building a relationship with the other brand should be easy but may take some time. Look for the brand owner or CEO online and engage with them informally via social networking.

  If the other brand has employees, connect with them as well. They may not be the decision-makers, but they’re insiders who have the potential to champion your partnership proposal and get it in front of the decision-makers.

• Don’t pitch initially via email unless you have no other option. If you’re pitching your partnership idea to a popular brand, assume that you’re not alone and that the person receiving your email won’t welcome it. An email is the equivalent of a cold sales call. Hold off on email until the person shows some interest and you’re in a position to make a more formal pitch.

  Even though you should hold off on pitching a partnership proposal via email, having an email template prepared in advance enables you to follow up quickly with any brands that have shown an interest in forming a partnership. See the next section for details on creating an effective email template.

• Connect but don’t pitch on LinkedIn and other social networks. Search for decision-makers and other insiders on LinkedIn and other social networks, engage with them, and get to know them. Avoid presenting your partnership idea until you feel comfortable with your relationships.

  Social networks emphasize social. On some social networks, such as LinkedIn, talking shop is appropriate and welcome, but don’t use social networks to try to do business or sell anything outside the features designated for doing so. Selling on social networks is about as welcome as selling dietary supplements at a family gathering.

• Meet in person if possible. Nothing replaces in-person contact, so look for opportunities to meet in person, such as at industry events or conferences. If you’re in the same location, invite your contact to lunch or coffee, and continue to work on developing the relationship. If you have a popular podcast or blog, offer your contact an opportunity for an interview or guest blog post.
• Be genuine. Express genuine interest in the other brand. If you’re not genuinely interested, you’ll have a very difficult time trying to act as though you’re being authentic, and the other person will quickly sense that you’re not.
• Don’t hard sell. Ideally, your idea for a partnership should become so subtly clear to your contact that they believe they thought of it first. If that outcome is too good to be true in your case, at least present your idea in the natural course of a conversation in a matter-of-fact manner to plant the seed of the opportunity in the contact’s mind.

You can ease into a partnership instead of rushing your partnership proposal. Take your time to get to know each other and fully understand each other’s business, brand, mission, values, and challenges. Make sure to consume as much information you can about the brands and industries you want to partner with by buying books, attending seminars and events, reaching out to ask questions, and reviewing their websites. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to pitch your proposal effectively.

Building an email template

Having a cobranding partner pitch email template available comes in handy when you’re ready to follow up with prospective brand partners who’ve expressed interest. You’ll want to convey what you can bring to the partnership while showing proof of what you’ve already accomplished. Create a template that’s visually pleasing and easy to digest.

One of my big selling points for Girl Gang the Label is my podcast, which highlights successful women. When pitching founders to be a guest on my podcast, I include highlights of past guests along with a template of what their feature will look like in email (see Figure 9-2).

Every email pitch is different, but here are a few ideas for structuring your pitch in the hope that they’ll get your own creative juices flowing:

• Present a bullet-point plan to describe how the partnership will look — what each brand brings to the table, how the brands complement each other, and how both brands will benefit. Keep the plan short and simple. Drafting a working agreement can come later.
• Deliver an elevator pitch describing your vision for the partnership — that is, a pitch concise enough to be delivered in the course of a brief elevator ride.
• Follow up your bullet-point plan or elevator pitch with any relevant examples of past partnerships that have been successful for your brand.
• Create a three-sentence pitch, including
  • Your vision for the partnership
  • What you bring to the table
  • A successful current or past partnership
• Consider including a brief statement describing the alignment of your two brands in terms of customer base, mission, or values.