Partnership Search - Leveraging Marketing and Brand Awareness Opportunities
Developing the right partnership can help both you and your partner increase sales and profits creating a win-win situation. To find the right partner a detailed and thoroughgoing partnership search is a must. TRG, utilizing the company's extensive marketing and business development experience, can develop a marketing plan involving a partnership search for a marketing initiative or joint venture.
Partnership based marketing programs can be configured in a multitude of ways depending on what the partnership search finds. A good example is cross-marketed gift cards, it is common now to see gift cards for non-competing stores in one another's impulse buying and POP sections. In fact the impulse buying and POP sections of stores, catalogs and websites are great places for partnership marketing to take place. There are also opportunities in co-branded marketing materials, sending partner marketing materials to customers, and a plethora of other traditional and non-traditional partnership marketing opportunities. All opportunities will be evaluated during the partnership search phase.
It is important and exciting to see new opportunities growing for partnership marketing as businesses become more open to sharing success with one another instead of eyeing each other suspiciously as competitors. This change in approach allows more focus on partnership search, seeking expanding opportunities rather than insular competitive thinking. Certainly there are points at which competition for the same spending dollars would preclude any partnership marketing, fortunately there are many more opportunities for partnering than competition making a partnership search fun and exciting.
Beyond reasonable exclusion of certain business relationships due to competition there are several factors that will influence any partnership marketing agreement and thus inform the partnership search. These considerations include customer demographics, target demographics, nature of the customer experience, marketing standards, sales projections and agreements and timely reporting.
When engaging in a partnership search the first element to consider is demographic overlap. It is beneficial for both partners that they have significant overlap. It is more often than not the case that if one partner has good demographics for the other then the inverse will be true, although it is not uncommon to find situations where one partner will benefit disproportionately. In cases where demographic overlap is significantly different the partnership may not make sense. In other cases where volume or response rates differ, a balancing solution can often be found that maintains benefit equality for both partners. TRG will provide comprehensive analysis during the partnership search.
After determining which companies are likely to be good demographic matches the partnership search turns to marketing similarities and differences. Attempting to navigate brand differences and ensure that both brands are supported and enhanced by the partnership is an important analysis to undertake.
The partnership search team will build proposals for approval with the client seeking marketing partnerships. Upon approval the team will seek to contact the appropriate members of the potential partner companies and enter into discussions about the potential benefit for both companies in developing a marketing partnership opportunity.
Upon finding willing participants the partnership search team will seek to develop reasonably balanced partnership agreements that ensure that each partner will receive equitable ROI, brand development and marketing opportunities.
TRG's partnership search service offers an excellent value to companies seeking to increase their marketing ROI, brand awareness and brand presence within an effective and efficient marketing system. TRG's partnership search consultancy is sure to provide the most thorough guidance in selecting and developing marketing partnerships.
