A powerful option to broaden reach and increase company market share in the pet industry is to establish a strategic brand partnership.
This mutually beneficial relationship align two companies looking to build off of each other’s brand equity, customer base, marketing channels or distribution strengths.
When executed and managed properly, this strategy can provide strong growth opportunities for your company and brand.
By aligning your company with a strong, like-minded, and well-known brand, you can benefit from the “halo” effect: consumers bestowing all of the positive perceptions they have of your brand partner upon you due to association.
In order for this effect to take place the partnership has to be one that aligns and feels genuine in the mind of the consumer.
Having the right partner and establishing a strategy for executing an effective partnership will go a long way in ensuring you feel the glow of the halo.
Even if you have a strong customer base, they can only buy so many of your products. That is why it is vital that you continuously look for new customers and claim more of the market.
But pet parents can’t buy what they don’t know exists. That is where brand visibility comes into play. And there is no better way to gain visibility than to partner with a brand that reaches a different segment of your target market, or reaches a whole new market altogether.
The right strategic brand partner should provide access to – and engagement with – an audience that you otherwise would not be able to reach.
This is the marketing golden rule: make new friends but keep the old.
It is more expensive to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one, so utilize your strategic brand partnership to deepen the relationships you already have.
Provide current customers with a unique offering or added value that is only possible through your new partnership. Your company will reap the benefits of customer loyalty.
Capitalizing on new marketing channels ensures the greatest ROI.
When evaluating a strategic brand partner for your pet business, consider whether they have access to marketing channels that would otherwise be too expensive for you to use independently.
If you both have television or radio advertising – is there a co-promotion you could run? Can you co-brand a campaign with outdoor signage?
Look for ways to execute your partnership where you can take advantage of both companies’ marketing channel strengths.
Strategic brand partnerships are scalable to meet the needs of both companies.
Just keep in mind that the more time and resources you invest in a partnership, the more of these benefits you will receive.
A strategic brand partnership can be used to support your entire brand by weaving it into every nook and cranny of your strategies and tactics. Or you can choose to utilize it to support a specific sales promotion or product launch.
Whether your strategic brand partnership is one of equal trade or a sponsorship opportunity, the goal is to choose a partner that reaches deeper into your current market or broadens your reach into new markets. Either way, these relationships can be powerful communicators of your brand and your message.
Utilizing them within the framework of a larger strategic plan can be highly advantageous – even essential – in the effort to continuously grow your consumer base.
