A synergistic brand partnership the fans understand and benefit from

Sponsorship is not partnership and a good example of this is the kind of brand partners and sponsors that the two in the English Premiership work with and how they do it.

Manchester City are not only top of the premiership they are leading the way in innovative commercial partnerships. Where Manchester United merely go after brand partners that have the most money no matter what the relevance (AON/DHL both being b2b brands marketing themselves to mass consumers through ManU sponsorship for example) Manchester City have taken a more creative approach.

Manchester City’s current deal with video game developer Electronic Arts (EA), maker of the FIFA series of football games, is an example of this.

EA has two staff dedicated to producing game-related content for Manchester City, while the club’s Etihad stadium is home to permanent installations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, where fans can play the latest FIFA game on club match days in tournaments organised by EA. So both brands are linked physically, digitally and through marketing.

I also loved the way that Manchester City and EA used an in gaming video seen above to showcase their new kit, very innovative.

The club believes that it’s about getting the brand fit right and making sense to the fans not just creating sponsorships which means nothing to the fans but who have large chequebooks.

Contrast this with Manchester United’s cash wins everytime approach. AIG, AON and now DHL amongst other Manchester United sponsors which 99.99% of the fans don’t use and can’t use. They’re all effectively B2B brands. DHL are a logistics company, the average ManU fan is never going to think of using them.

The fact that DHL get branding on all training gear and Alex Ferguson’s jacket during games gives them great media value but makes

Nice tour signage but where's the connection with the fans?

no sense to the fans watching who can’t see the connection and gain no benefits. Is this because the senior DHL marketing people are all Manchester United fans and wanted to have the thrill of sponsoring their tours and getting their names on their training gear and gaining match hospitality by any chance? It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened…..

With the EA partnership for example by scanning the QR code in Manchester City’s smart phone app, unique content could be ‘unlocked’, for example, player avatars created in FIFA 12, which could be swapped or played with like trading cards. The aim is to transport the fan’s relationship with both the EA and Manchester City brands out of the stadium or TV and into a more social setting anywhere in the world and market both brands are global entertainment brands.

According to EA online players of FIFA 12 around the world choose to play matches both for and against Manchester City more than any other club or national team represented in the game. I find this hard to believe unless it’s just all the Manchester United fans in Asia playing against their new pretenders to their throne…..!

Read more: http://chrisreed.brandrepublic.com/2012/02/17/manchester-city-v%e2%80%99s-manchester-united-partnerships-v%e2%80%99s-sponsorship/#ixzz1mtnK96co

Baby Genius Wendy's Partnership in the US is an uneasy but logical brand alliance Books and fast food appear to the thing of the moment.

First McDonalds have created a monster massive 10 million book giveaway promotion for their Happy Meals with Harper Collins and the author of War Horse and now Wendy’s have created an interesting book partnership with the Baby Genius brand.

Genius, the developer and marketer of entertainment products including the award-winning Baby Genius line of music and education-based products and characters, today announced a partnership with The Wendy’s in the US. Wendy’s restaurants will offer Baby Genius premiums for the under three age group in Wendy’s Kids’ Meals over the next 12 months.

Get them hooked young is clearly the strategy of both Wendys and McDonalds which Im not sure that the American Health Service would agree as there appear to be enough obese people in that country costing the American tax payer a fortune.

Beginning in February 2012, eight original Baby Genius board books will be offered for young children as part of a year-long Wendy’s

Wendy's normal advertising is more direct - heart attack anyone?

Kids’ Meal promotional program slated for over 6,500 Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. Wendy’s Kids’ Meal point-of-purchase displays and website will be branded with Baby Genius characters and each of the millions of board books will include a special money saving coupon for a set of Baby Genius DVDs.

Baby Genius will join other brand partners Creativity for Kids which is a nice connection to get kids and families drawing and the more obvious Mattel Games, all aimed at kid’s meals market.

There are two ways to look at this brand partnership: firstly Baby Genius have a much more credible and educational brand than Wendys and therefore Wendys are gaining great brand endorsement and brand association that will attract caring parents who would otherwise pass by…and go to McDonalds.

The second is that Baby Genius are getting an amazing amount of free media targeting millions of parents and kids across North America. They wouldnt be able to buy this much targeted media in a closed environment without it costing them tens of millions of dollars over a year.

Baby Genius products and marketing are more wholesome and even high brow making it a pragmatic partnership with Wendy's as oppose to one with synergistic brand values

Its an uneasy win-win as I am sure that Baby Genius would have thought twice about the brand association given the negative brand values of fast food outlets especially when it comes to kids and parents in the US. But they appear to have said they will sleep with the devil in exchange for amazing brand awareness that will create greater awareness for their product and provide a platform to market other ranges and products from a position of greater strength.

Read more: http://chrisreed.brandrepublic.com/2012/02/20/wendy%e2%80%99s-genius-brand-partnership/#ixzz1mtmwh8Us

Brief

To create specific brand partnerships to win over the long term with ASEAN 1/1+ consumers by being where they Live, Shop and are most receptive and to help them achieve the following key objectives:

• Create holistic marketing partnerships with synergistic brands
• Gain free media in the brand partners customer communication channels
• Drive product trials
• Create positive word of mouth
• Brand endorsement from the promotional brand partners

Solution

• Head & Shoulders and Gillette travel sets in goodie bags and Head & Shoulders sachets to be given away to Fitness First members on their Member Appreciation Day celebrated across all 19 gyms in Thailand.
• Communication: A5 editorial in ‘What’s Up’ bi-monthly newsletter, posters, website & Facebook.

Partner

Fitness First is the largest privately owned health club group in the world with over 550 Fitness First clubs worldwide reaching over 1.7 million members in 18 countries. In Thailand, there are 20 clubs located in leading shopping department stores and business buildings throughout Bangkok.

Website: www.fitnessfirst.co.th

Fitness First Editorial

Fitness First In-store Poster

Fitness First Website

Fitness First Facebook

Results

• This program is just launched at time of publishing.
• Final response of redemption rate will be shared at later stage.

Pure money grabbing sponsorship or brand partnership?

Is it a sponsorship or is it a partnership? There is a massive difference between the two, sponsorship is not partnership.

It’s the same relationship as hooker and punter, it’s all about the money. Anyone can sponsor anyone as long as it’s legal and they have the right money.

Madonna has a “brand partnership” with Diageo which has allowed them to have Smirnoff Vodka, (which everyone knows is the low end of vodka which no one who likes vodka would actually buy) product placed in her new video for her latest comeback single and subsequent album.

Smirnoff will undoubtedly market this amazing happening for all it’s worth but will it increase sales? I doubt it. People aren’t daft they can see through a money for placement deal and know that Madonna is not really endorsing the brand, she has more expensive taste than that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWlXbZZ3ALA

Having said i loved the integration of the best dancer Smirnoff and Madonna ran to find a backing dancer for her tour, although it seemed to have very little to do with the Smirnoff brand values. If you’ve had a few Smirnoffs you either can’t dance or you just think you can…… Red Bull would have been a better brand partner in this context…..

Katy Perry on the other hand has created  a really cool partnership with The Sims. Electronic Arts (EA) announced plans “to develop multiple games within The Sims franchise featuring special Katy Perry themed in-game content and virtual goods.” As Perry very sweetly put it “I always like to think of myself as a cartoon, and now I’m a Sim,”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AaBJe85puU

The first result of this collaboration will be an expansion pack for The Sims 3 Showtime — “Katy Perry Collector’s Edition” — released in March 2012. Perry is no stranger to The Sim-iverse. She recorded her song “Hot and Cold” in Simlish — the language of the Sims, natch — for a Sims 2 expansion pack back in 2006. The video is the most popular of its kind, according to EA.

Cool synergistic partnership between Perry and The Sims

Perry will now be very busy creating “accessories, clothing, hairstyles, furniture and props” for virtual people, as well as starring in ad campaigns for her Sims ventures. She seems more committed and more involved that Madonna is in the much commercially sounding Smirnoff deal.

Although Madonna chose a backing dancer through the competition the difference of integration is immense between her deal and Perry’s with The Sim’s where she is very much involved and a willing partner, although still a commercial one too of course. It’s still all about the money but the brand has to be right for this kind of content deal between Perry and EA>

Read more: http://chrisreed.brandrepublic.com/2012/02/13/madonna-v%e2%80%99s-katy-perry-sponsorship-v%e2%80%99s-brand-partnership/#ixzz1mJCi2Puf

The latest in a long line of brand partners for H&M

David Beckham is the latest in the long line of celebrities and designers that H&M have partnered with in a strategy you either love or hate.

Unleashed across the world in every H&M store and with a TV campaign to match to the sound of The Animals’ version of Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Beckham is wearing only a pair of £7.99 pants from his new David Beckham Bodywear from his H&M collection.

YouTube reaction is overwhelmingly positive which will please H&M, who have allegedly spent millions on Beckham’s endorsement but does the strategy leave H&M will none of their own brand values and declining sales as a result?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQb_-OY7Z0E

It’s not the first brand association and it won’t be the last. H&M’s recent history has included collaborations with Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Comme des Garçons, Lanvin and Jimmy Choo. Hyped through social media, susceptible magazines and tabloids buying up the cheap PR photos of celebs and cheap stunts this roll call of collaborations has put H&M’s cheap and mainstream jersey dresses and bargain tailoring to the side as shoppers seek out the limited edition celebrity endorsed or designed items.

The H&M formula is very simple. The brand searches out either a household name, a designer brand whose aesthetic is so strong that it can take being watered down with cheap fabrics without losing its punch, or an insider fashion name that adds kudos to the brand.

Clever partnership marketing or debasing H&M's own brand?

For designers, the attraction of the H&M machine lies in bringing their designers to the masses for a limited time and I assume their thinking is that today’s H&M customer is tomorrow’s designer buyer at full price.

My problem with the associations is that the H&M brand itself begins to look like a train carrying passengers, a lap top showcasing all the content inside but none of its own.

H&M becomes a warehouse for others and loses its brand completely. What are it’s values now apart from continually borrowing other brands values for a limited time?

Do people no longer shop at H&M for H&M products but only for the celebrity endorsed ones? There’s only one way a retailer can go from that point because without the latest designer or latest celeb the customers will shop elsewhere. They have become a victim of an aggressive strategy which now cannot be stopped as shoppers seek their next hit of purely celeb endorsed H&M products only. What happens when they run out of celebs or designers to partner with?

Only this January H&M produced the latest poor set of financial results. As UBS analyst Adam Cochrane said investors had started to ask: “Has H&M lost its way? The reality is people like Primark are offering 80% of the fashion at 50% of the price. The cheapest player used to be H&M.”

How many partnerships can H&M do that don't entirely remove the H&M brand itself?

Profits were down for the fifth quarter in a row after H&M, which turns over the lion’s share of its £10.4bn annual sales in Europe, was forced to slash prices to clear unsold winter clothing.

Next month H&M will follow Versace and Beckham with a fleeting collaboration with Marni, a quieter Italian label, known for its quirky prints and beloved of fashion editors. This is another example of something that they can’t do themselves and where they have to borrow someone else’s brand to do it for them.

Read more: http://chrisreed.brandrepublic.com/2012/02/07/hms-promiscuous-brand-partnerships-leave-them-looking-empty/#ixzz1leVi9HVS

Very cool brand partnership between Billabong and Sony Ericsson adds active content and an extreme sports brand to Sony's mobile brand

I love to show brand partnerships in the best possible light and the new Sony Ericsson Billabong brand partnership is a very cool partnership that works on many different levels, even if it is very one sided with Billabong doing very little apart from giving their brand endorsement and some content.

Sony Ericsson recently announced an expanded global strategic alliance with Billabong.

This follows the successful collaboration with the Sony Vaio and the launch of the “Imperial Lime.” The laptop is pretty much the same as a normal Vaoi specs wise, but comes preloaded with Billabong content like pictures and video.  The mobile partnership goes a step further.

At the center of the mobile partnership is the Xperia active Billabong Edition smartphones designed with extreme sports enthusiasts in mind, a perfect fit when it comes to lifestyle, brand image and audience targeting.

The Xperia active Billabong edition is a cool smartphone for extreme sports enthusiasts who can take it along on their extreme sports journeys. Sony claim it’s scratch-resistant and  packed with technologies such as wet finger tracking. It apparently has received some of the highest marks in dustproof and water resistance categories from critics, so says the PR…..

Dramatically different Billabong Sony Vaio lap top with Billabong content

Sony are leading the product positioning by getting some of the of the Billabong endorsee athletes at  major international events to test the Xperia active device in conditions as diverse as the snowfields in Austria, surfing the big waves of Tahiti and even skateboarding here in Singapore.

Wisely the partnership extends beyond the Xperia active as Sony Ericsson and Billabong have also co-created exclusive content for additional Xperia devices.

The Xperia active Billabong Edition will feature preloaded Billabong screenscavers, videos and Billabong LIVE, a mobile app now available in the Sony Ericsson channel in Android Market, and the Xperia PLAY will boast an exclusive surf game, Billabong Surf Trip.

Effectively Sony are ensuring that many Sony mobile customers get exposed to the brand partnership and gain some benefits which of course benefits Billabong too.

Sony present a Billabong event in Singapore demonstrating how Sony at least get some branding at a Billabong event

Billabong in turn will feature Sony Ericsson Xperia smartphones in major events worldwide which does appear as though Sony are doing all the work here. Sony Ericsson has more to offer its retailer and operator partners with assets, such as merchandise and event access, which will be used in retail promotions which will aggressively exploit the brand partnership to their potential and actual customers.

What would have made the brand partnership even better would have been marketing in all Billabong stores across the Asia Pac region and globally. That would have really hammered the brand partnership home in money can’t buy customer communication channels and opened up the Billabong audience to the Sony connection. After all mobile and Sony customers know all about Sony but Billabong customers may not all know about the Billabong Sony mobile so why no extend the partnership logically into Billabong channels from facebook to stores, on line to CRM and tell Billabong customers about the new associated product that they could be seen with? A missed trick to an otherwise great brand partnership.

Read more: http://chrisreed.brandrepublic.com/2012/02/05/sony-ericsson-surfs-billabong%e2%80%99s-wave/#ixzz1lVA27VV7

McDonalds have switched from toys to books...will the UK still buy their happy meals?

It comes to something when UK kids are getting their books from McDonald’s but credit where it is due at least the fast food firm are encouraging kids to read.

They may all be obese as they read (making them even less active) but at least they will be able to read how many calories and how much fat is in those lovely Happy Meals…..

McDonald’s has secured a deal with book publisher HarperCollins, to give away millions of copies of Morpurgo’s ‘Mudpuddle Farm’ children’s books with Happy Meal purchases. Murpugo is the author of ‘War Horse’, which has just been made into a film by Steven Spielberg, having previously been in various London theatres to critical and commercial success.

The McDonald’s campaign is supported by the National Literary Trust, as well as Jade Goody’s ex-boyfriend Jeff Brazier, who is acting as an ambassador for the campaign. The connection between the two is strange but maybe he was cheap or just the mum’s pin up boy?

Chips and a previous free film toy have changed into chips and a book....healthier? for the mind at least.....

Six titles from HarperCollin’s ‘Mudpuddle Farm’ range will be made available during the promotion. The move has come in for criticism from some quarters, who have argued that McDonald’s is offering sweeteners for parents and children to buy Happy Meals. But they have always done this and isn’t it better that kids get books rather than film toys that they just eat/choke on or smash up and don’t actually learn anything from?

It’s clearly a great CSR initiative for McDonalds and great for the Literacy Trust to get this many books in the marketplace. I would be intrigued to see in 6 months time whether Happy Meal sales  have declined as a result of there being no more film related toys to collect with them. Also whether kids actually read them or adults read them to their kids or they just collect dust on shelves and are another failed attempt to prevent the rising illiteracy of the UK’s kids.

Read more: http://chrisreed.brandrepublic.com/2012/01/19/mcdonalds-tasty-content-partnership-feeds-the-brain/#ixzz1jrOPJyfj

Honda's cool Love Hearts partnership

You have to smile at this innovative partnership between Honda and retro sweets brand Love Hearts. Who needs fickle celebrities when you can use some cool fun sweets to bring a bit of play and lightheartedness to your marketing?

The “Your Honda, Your Way” campaign allows drivers to choose from a range of services such as extended guarantees and free services when buying a new Jazz, CV-R or Insight model until 31 March, rather than offering a set range.

Honda have used some of the heart messages in their marketing such as Want Me, Be Mine, Say Yes, I’m Yours next to specific benefits that Honda will give customers.

They could have used some sexier ones like Stud Muffin, Suck Me Harder, Flange Lover or animal ones like My Pet, Dog Face, or alternative ones Just Say No and I Surrender, my personal favourite Bonnie Lad or even the clearly not retro Text Me or Email Me (surely not at all romantic, you may as well have one saying “Like Me”…oh there is….but it was created before facebook came along…that’s where they got it from! Time for some royalty payments Mr Zuckerberg!).

Which Love Heart will you get?

Honda dealerships will also give away packets of Honda Love Hearts – if they ran this partnership in Singapore they would have to give away a year’s supply to get the equivalent value to the car (they try not to make you have cars over here with little success but it means any car costs over $150k including tax….!)

I think the next logical step for Honda is to continue with other retro sweet themes using brands like Rainbow Drops, Sherbet Lemons, Spangles, Liquorice Sherbert, Refershers, Marathons, Opal Fruits and my favourite the sparkling Wham Bar!

 
Read more: http://chrisreed.brandrepublic.com/2012/01/17/honda%e2%80%99s-sweet-brand-partnership/#ixzz1jgex0W5v

Quickflix Ltd is Australia’s leading online movie rental site. Having recently acquired Telstra Big Pond Movie’s DVD rental service, they now own the largest and widest selection of TV shows and Movies in Australia, with almost 50,000 titles.

Brief

• Create holistic marketing partnerships with synergistic brands
• Gain free media in the brand partners customer communication channels
• Drive free trial sign ups
• Create positive word of mouth
• Brand endorsement from the promotional brand partners

Solution

• McAfee products to have an on-pack sticker prompting customers to redeem their free 6 weeks trial.
•  Communication: On-pack stickers will feature the offer and a scratch-to-reveal promo code for customers to redeem from an exclusively created landing page.

Partner

McAfee is the world’s largest dedicated security company. To help their customers stay safe, they create proactive security solutions for securing their digital world. McAfee is a wholly owned subsidy of Intel Corporation.

McAfee Landing Page

McAfee On-Pack Sticker

Results

• This program is just launched at time of publishing.
• Final response of redemption rate will be shared at later stage.

Brief

Solution

1. Offer for all GV members: Buy 3 Disney tickets and get the 4th at 50% off
2. Offer for all ‘Kids Watch for Free’ & ‘Mums & Babies’ customers: Get 10% off Disney tickets
3. Offer for all GV customers: Buy 2 movie tickets and stand a chance to win 4 tickets to Disney!

•  Offers to be promoted by GV through standees, A0 posters, website, eDM & Facebook

Partner

Golden Village is the leading cinema operator in Singapore. It has nine cinemas island wide. It was established to develop and operate modern, luxurious multiplex cinemas. Today, it has a reputation of offering more choice, comfort and convenience at its cinemas.

The Golden Village Movie Club boasts around 360,000 members and offers its members offers and ongoing promotions. They also get to enjoy special deals on their birthday month.

Golden Village Standee

Golden Village Poster

Golden Village Website

Golden Village eDM

Golden Village Facebook Page

Results

• This program is just launched at time of publishing.
• Final response of redemption rate will be shared at later stage.