Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Sweet (and Charitable) Partnership

While a lot of partnerships start with the common idea of influencing and selling to a consumer, there is another partnership which happens to make a difference. Partnering with a charity is a way for large corporations to help make a difference and still drive the consumer to buy or support their brand.
Recently Dole announced its partnership with the leading domestic relief charity, Feeding America. The two partnered up as Dole launched their "Traveling Fruit Stand" for the Summer of 2011. Dole announced that for every person who comes out and samples or checks in via four square at the traveling fruit stand, they will donate a fresh fruit cup to a Feeding America food bank
in that city.

And if you can not come out to the fruit stand, they are directing people to their Facebook page where you can "like" Dole and a donation will be made.
With this partnership Dole is able to create awareness for their brand through social media as well as the coverage they are getting from local and national media outlets... and that is just naturally sweet.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Howdy Partner





Country Music is one of the founding genres of American music. With 47% of Americans choosing Country Music as their tune of choice,this brand not only has star power but also selling power.


Country Music has produced the two top selling recording artists of all time in the U.S (Elvis Presley and Garth Brooks) plus countless other musicians that have sang us the love stories of the southwest. These soul-filled artists are as passionate about their roots and image as they are about their lyrics. Meaning they don't want to sell out for a brand or company that does not stand for what they believe in.


It wasn't until Elvis Presley seduced the nation that Country music was considered a music genre with branding power.

By 1990 Country music was as popular and making as many waves in the industry as Rock and Roll. Superstar names like Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks began teaming up with major companies that let them keep their twangie image and still lend a hand.


Just last year Garth Brooks teamed up with the Professional Bull Riders association to raise money for his chairty Teammates for Kids. The two raised $1 million for the charity in 2010.

Now, big names like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Rodney Atkins not only rule the airwaves but also raise awareness for their musical roots by partnering with brands that let them represent themselves as well as a product in line with their music.



Partnering with major mass marketed brands like Cover girl, Vitamin Water and Velveeta Shells and Cheese these artists are raising awareness in all demographics.






Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Fashionable Partnership

"You're wearing a sweater that was actually selected for you by the people in this room two years ago from what you call stuff..."

According to Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada", the fashion industry is so powerful that predetermined colors and styles are envisioned for the masses long before the latest trends hit the high end runway shows, let alone the magazines and mass marketed stores.
With power like this, combined with the fact that the fashion industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, you wonder why every product brand is not campaigning to every available fashion house to partner up. And the answer is simple, in fashion, it's all about the perfect fit.
Fashion partnerships are born with many goals in mind, most of which to entice and drive the consumer to crave and eventually purchase the product. Most of the successful partnerships have brought high end fashion names to a brand that is affordable and in line with every demographic. One of the first and most successful of these relationships was between Target and Issac Mizrahi in 2004. This collaboration brought the wild styles of the famed designer to affordable prices for the everyday consumer, the success of this merger lead to Target partnering with other high end brands including William Rast and most recently Calypso St. Barth. These relationships have given Target the results to put them ahead of their retail competitors.

In some cases a brand will look to a fashion partner for the name that will add a "luxury" factor to the product. Serta Mattresses accomplished this in 2006 when they partnered with Vera Wang to create a mattress that screams luxury before you even lay down on it. This partnership allowed Serta to re market their mattresses in new media outlets.

A strong example was their 2009 campaign "Comfortably Ever After" which they used bridal magazines and trade shows to market to the young women who are looking for the Vera Wang name, synonymous with the wedding industry, to sell the mattresses to.
With success stories like these you wonder what will be the next successful fashion partnership. As the fashion industry has taught us, just wait because the deal and launch has probably already been planned well over two years ago.