Go further and faster thanks to strategic alliances
‘I love creating alliances, I love not having to carry the full weight of creative storytelling..’ – Steven Spielberg
Instead of trying to do everything alone, strategic partnerships can be an effective way to build business. As each partner leverages the other’s assets, they can expand or penetrate deeper into existing and contemplated product markets, compete in new markets, gain access to new distribution channels, benefit from positive brand images, or hone new business models. . Partnerships are especially valuable for companies seeking rapid entry into a particular market or line of business due to technological disruption, new market entrants, or aggressive moves by competitors.
Not surprisingly, they can take on various shades of grey, from joint ventures to looser alliances, and often have a specific focus:
– Strategic Marketing Partnerships
For example, the partnership between Christian Dior Fusion Sneakers and Colette gave Christian Dior the opportunity to launch its new modern, innovative and luxurious line (a fusion between traditional sneakers and Dior haute couture shoes) in the exclusive and prestigious network. Colette’s distribution. For Colette, being chosen as the store where the sneakers first appeared generated great PR for the trend-setting retailer.
If partners are located in different parts of the same market, clients can refer each other and partners can expand beyond their respective client base, as illustrated by H&M’s ongoing collaboration with couture designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Lanvin or Alexander Wang. This allows H&M to offer high-end fashion brand items for a limited period of time to attract people to its stores and support its brand positioning as a trendy fashion destination. Haute couture designers increase their own brand awareness and forge a bond with a new generation of potential customers, who will hopefully aspire to own more pieces from their high-end collection.
This can also take place in different product markets, as is the case with the partnership between high-end camera company Leica and luxury fashion brand Moncler. The limited edition “fashionable” camera is the perfect go-to purchase for both the high-end target audience and to reflect the camera owners’ sense of aesthetics.
– Strategic supplier associations may include manufacturers, distributors, or sellers. They provide security of supply (including new products tailored to specific needs) and may lead to special discounts and lower prices; a classic example is the work of Apple and Google with many small application developers to create an ecosystem of mobile services.
Such a relationship can sometimes lead to schizophrenia. Apple’s main supplier of microchips for its iPhones is Samsung, its main rival in the smartphone market. They compete aggressively in the marketplace while closely collaborating on the design of the semiconductors that Samsung sells to Apple.
Strategic supplier partnerships can also be created to provide a unique competitive advantage to one of the partners. H&M is collaborating with I:CO, a logistics company, as it has started offering customers the opportunity to bring their old clothes into its stores and receive a discount on new ones. I:CO sends part of the used clothing to the second-hand market or to be recycled.
– Strategic technology partners help companies share the burden of high costs often associated with new technologies. The need to develop electric, hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell and other forms of propulsion, while also investing heavily in their gasoline and diesel engines, has led automakers like Toyota to partner with their rival BWM in the fuel cell sector. technology.
Tech partnerships can also bring together companies from different industries, such as Allianz, which has partnered with Google to create an “accelerator” hub in Munich, to encourage startups looking to use data analytics to improve the insurance market.
They can also bring together companies that operate in different parts of the technology spectrum, such as the Apple and IBM alliance. Big data analytics from IBM and more than 100,000 industry software developers and sales consultants help Apple penetrate the global corporate business market with a new class of apps to connect users with big data and analytics on devices iOS.
Despite all those successes, making partnership relationships work is often notoriously difficult. They are similar to marriages of convenience, where trust and respect are often tested by underlying rivalries and occasional disputes.
Rules abound for successful partnerships, but focus must be maintained on partnering with a company with a similar vision and culture, and continually building trust by working together openly and transparently. In any case, most associations don’t work exactly as expected, so flexibility, as always, is a must.