Why a Brand Partnership is Beneficial for Your Next Event
Many big-name brands have had successful brand partnerships with others to bring exclusive events, products, or experiences to their audiences. It has become a popular practice due to its success. Any collaboration will always bring something new and exciting to your guests and create exclusivity as well as urgency to attend because it is not a regular occurrence. This is an easy marketing tool you can use when advertising for your event. Everyone loves to be a part of something exclusive.
Some examples of brand partnerships are anything from brands like Nike, Lebron’s Uninterrupted, and Sharpie partnering up to make a shoe, McDonald’s and Disney to include toys in their happy meals, and even luxury brands like Gucci and The North Face partnering up to give exclusive luxury goods to their customers.
Keep in mind that brand partnerships are different than sponsorships. A sponsorship is an agreement that exchanges money, service, or product to be featured at the event. A partnership is an agreement between two companies to collaborate and bring together their resources to create a product or, in this case, an event. A partner is a lot more involved than a sponsorship is.
Before partnering with a brand, you need to consider many different things and ensure that a partnership is precisely what you want over a sponsorship. You will be sharing not only your event but your reputation with your partner.
Once you have a partnership, it is no longer just your event. You may have been the one who planned it all and then decided you needed a partnership, but now they are a part of your event as well, so they have a say on what goes on.
Ask yourself these questions before committing to a partnership.
Why do you need a partner?Can you create an event just as successful by yourself?
Is it worth going through all the effort?
Are you okay with changing things about your event if your partner wants to?
Can you adapt to working with a partner?
Do you trust your partner?
How have your past partnerships turned out?
Is collaborating something that interests you?
Are you reaching a big enough audience without a partner?
After you have evaluated all the pros and cons of having a partner and want to continue finding the best one for your event, there are a few steps to take to find the perfect one.
| 1. Think about your brand and event, what it represents, your morals, and your goals. |
| 2. Make sure you know what will be expected from not only your partner but what they will expect from you as well. Be completely transparent about what you want out of this partnership so you can choose the correct partner that will fill those needs. |
| 3. Make a list of all the companies or brands with the same morals as you and would match your brand and event best for a brand partnership. Try to not mix friendships and partnerships, sometimes it works out but other times it can create more of a headache and cause drama rather than help. A brand partnership with someone that you know in the business world is a better route to go, it will remain professional, and it is always nice knowing the business background of the partner you are choosing. Remember that sometimes companies in your field may not check what you are looking for, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box. For example, if you are having a 5k charity run for breast cancer, partner up with a local salon and have them set up a booth where they can give a pink extension to participants. This helps both the salon with a increased brand awareness and your charity. |
| 4. Write a contract to present to your partners after you have pitched them the idea and they agreed to the brand partnership. Not all partnerships need lengthy contracts; for example, an in-kind partnership will not be as detailed as a partnership including money. Nevertheless, a contract is required to stay organized and hold people accountable. Never make agreements that are not written down; it can cause conflict between partners if memories differ about a particular topic. |
| 5. Once you have done steps 1-4, you reach out! Do not be afraid to call, send an email, or even go to their storefront to speak face-to-face with someone. No brand or company is out of reach. If you are a small business and think a well-established brand is perfect to partner with, ask! Many large corporations have not only the funds but want to show support to smaller companies, and a increase brand awareness, especially within their community, this is a great way to reach a huge audience. |
The easy part is over. Now you have to maintain a relationship with your partner to create a successful event together; below are a few tips on how to do so.
Expectations-
Going back to expectations, go over each other’s expectations for yourselves, the process, your partner, and the event itself. Make this top on your priority list; you and your partner need to have a clear vision of each other’s expectations for your brands and the event. Doing this, in the beginning, will help give you an understanding of what you need to plan in order to accomplish all your goals.Joint marketing campaign-
Remember you are partners; you should be putting equal effort into this event. A joint marketing campaign is simple to put together and will help reach a wider audience. Posting on two social media accounts for one event is better than just posting on one, so why not?Below is an example of how both Gucci and The North Face posted advertisements on their social media accounts for this collaboration. These two brands collaborating increased brand awareness for both brands in their partner's fields, Gucci going into an outdoor product company and The North Face getting into luxury.
Deadlines/Checklist-
At the beginning of event planning, sit down and create a checklist with deadlines for every step of the event planning process. Consider making this on a google doc or a sharable document where you and your partner can edit when a task has been completed. This will keep everyone on track and organized.Below is an example of a Google Sheets sharable document with tasks and dates for each to be completed. This is a simple way to share what tasks have been completed, by who, and when without having to contact each person on your team.
Communication-
This is a broad statement that may seem obvious, but you must communicate in all aspects of your event. Even if a little change is made, let your partner know; this is a team effort, and when you work together efficiently amazing things can happen.There are multiple things that you need to think about when deciding to have a partner for your next event. Many pros and cons are brought to the table, and it is your decision to evaluate them all to decide what is the best course of action you can take for your event. Business Events
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