Common Mistakes in Brand Partnerships
The right brand partnerships can be incredibly compelling and effective, you can create something really powerful when you align your brand with something people care passionately about, adding value to their experience and ultimately driving positive sentiment for your brand and business.
It’s easy to find hundreds of successful case studies where a brand has got it right. However, there are still brands making common mistakes in brand partnerships, which means that they are not driving any positive outcomes and wasting their money.
Some of the Most Common Pitfalls:
Misalignment. Some brands quite simply don’t take the time to understand who they should partner with and make the wrong choice, no matter how ‘fanshaped’ they try to become; they are at the wrong party and no one is going to ask them to dance.
Lack of creativity. Many brands are behaving in a formulaic way, and it’s just washing over sports fans or event attendees. A logo slapped on an asset is just wallpaper and easy to ignore. Brands need to think creatively. How can they act in a way that adds value and gets people talking? How can they do something that has never been done before? Brands need to be creative if they want to cut through the clutter.
Not understanding the audience. Even within the same sport, fans are very different. The way you would talk to a Newcastle fan and an Arsenal fan is very different, they may live different lives, they may care about different things. Too many brands roll out the same campaign across different teams and miss the mark by not taking the time to understand who they are talking to and what they care about.
Allowing the rights holder to dictate the relationship. Many rights holders now have big in-house teams who will manage the relationship on a brand’s behalf. This can be risky as ultimately they will revert to a formulaic approach, i.e. they may not want to push things too much as it will make things difficult for them at work. The rights holder teams should be used to facilitate, not dictate. If as a brand you’re giving the rights holder an easy time, you’re not pushing things hard enough.
Buying the wrong assets. Too many times a brand will buy the wrong assets at the start of a relationship. It’s important to start by being very single minded about what your objectives are and making sure you have the assets that will allow you to meet them. It’s good to consider both reach and engagement when discussing what assets you might need to make sure you have the right balance before signing on the dotted line.
Lack of leverage budget. The most common mistake of all is when a brand spends their entire budget on acquiring the rights and has nothing left to leverage them, meaning that they can’t actually create anything that people care about, all they can do is slap logos everywhere. Plan from the start, work out the campaign and budget accordingly.
By avoiding these common mistakes in brand partnerships, brands can ensure they maximise their investments and create meaningful connections with their audiences.
Written by Pimento Member The Park
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