blog

Partnership Marketing

by Chris Sotomayor

Apple and Nike have announced a partnership to enable a consumer to use his or her iPod Nano coupled with a pair of Nike sneakers as their electronic coach. More info about the partnership can be found here.

This is a very smart move. Apple and Nike have two of the strongest global brands. Part of what makes Apple and Nike so successful is that they invest a lot into understanding the minds of their customers. They understand that consumers are looking to strong and differentiated brands to help them tell authentic stories about themselves. Consumers are using brands to help define the way they relate to themselves.

Apple and Nike realized that they have a lot of overlap in their target consumers and knew a partnership could raise awareness of their product offerings, garner a lot of attention, and prove that they understand their customers so well that they keep delivering new offerings to meet their customer's potential needs.

Yesterday, no one knew that her iPod was just as important to help with her jogging workout as her Nike sneakers, but now that the partnership has been announced, a lot of people will be thinking " I need it. "

There is an excitement and a sexiness to this partnership.

Increasingly, smart companies are realizing the value of marketing and brand partnerships, especially as those partnerships help them to better understand their target customers and help them better meet their potential needs.

The question for the marketing teams within our industry is this:

• What story does your brand enable advisors or retail investors to tell about themselves?
  
• What marketing partnerships could help your brand and products have a more relevant or exciting story?
  
• What products would be the best fit and would benefit the most from a marketing partnership?
  
• What steps are you taking to put those partnerships in place?