18 Jun Networx: Joining Forces
Joining Forces, held at the New Hampton Hotel on Tuesday 16 June, featured a panel of brand partnership experts who shared their insights on working successfully with other brands, talent and media to achieve greater cut through.
The panel noted that brand partnerships can be an effective form of marketing if executed well and can result in added publicity and exposure for both brands involved. When committing to a brand collaboration, both parties should ensure that all objectives and expectations are clearly outlined in writing from the onset and throughout in order to maximise success.
Director and Co-Founder of Gelato Messina, Declan Lee’s only requirement for a brand collaboration is to have a cool idea that is clever and out of the box. Messina doesn’t believe in paid advertising, and some of their best exposure has happened through brand collaborations with companies such as UBER and HBO’s True Blood. No budget? No worries! If you have an interesting, quirky or unique idea, brands like Messina want to work with you.
As General Manager at Merchantwise, Francis Coady forges strategic alliances between entertainment properties and leading consumer brands. Francis noted that a partnering brand should match the emotions and themes of what you represent, and that your collaboration should incorporate a strong idea that differentiates your brand from competitors. Once you have established a collaboration, the key to increasing success is through well-planned PR and promotion.
Sarah Howie, Integration Manager at Channel Seven, shared insights into how your brand or client can join forces with popular television shows such as House Rules and gain exposure to a targeted audience. Sarah advised that we should research all the opportunities out there as certain platforms may work better than others to achieve the exposure you are looking for. It is important to remember that money can’t always buy you the collaboration you want, especially if the brand you are trying to plug doesn’t align with the company, talent or media you have approached. Sarah reminded us that we must be prepared to accept that any type of branded content is a risk.
Founder of new match-making platform Collabosaurus, Jessica Ruhfus’ company matches brands together based on target market, marketing goals and collaboration type. Jessica says that brands can join forces in a budget friendly way if they are creative and clever with their money and states that target market, brand aesthetic and overall goals are the three biggest objectives to consider before entering a brand partnership. To measure the success of your collaboration, Jessica recommends assigning a value to everything undertaken during the partnership to safeguard one brand taking over control or getting more out of it. The assets each party can bring to the table include everything from their social media to their ability to provide publicity, a venue or talent.
We would like to thank our guest speakers for sharing their insights on joining forces and creating successful brand partnerships. We hope our audience gained some valuable tips on making their next collaboration a win win.