sexy
Partnerships make brands
Chris J Reed
How do you make cloud computing sexy? Add Stephen Fry.
How do you make Starwood sexy? Add Bayern Munich. How
do you make The Hard Rock sexy? Add Linkin Park.
Brand partnerships are an amazing way for one brand to
leverage the positive brand values of another brand to 1)
target a new customer audience 2) reinforce loyalty in the
existing customer base 3) change brand perception 4) double
marketing and brand power.
Cloud Computing brand Databarracks would not have
gained nearly 40,000 views for their YouTube video without
Stephen Fry narrating the explanation of the history of
technology and inventions. He hardly mentions what the
company does and could do for you but it works in terms
of capturing your attention and becoming interested in the
brand and what they do. People shared it with me and I have
shared it with other people and it’s cloud computing. But it’s
cloud computing made sexy.
One new partnership that did surprise me was between
Starwood Hotels and European Champions League
Champions Bayern Munich. Brands like Thomas Cook sell
Manchester City European packages but they don’t market
it to people in Asia. As a Starwood Preferred Guest member
I received an email offering me the chance to go and see
Bayern Munich in Germany.
While I admire Starwood’s optimism it’s very broadbrush
marketing. Bayern Munich are not Barcelona or Real Madrid
or Manchesters United in global popularity and brand appeal.
They are very much a German brand trying to become a
Manchester United or Barcelona, to become desired to be
associated with, a popular truly global brand. They have an
uphill battle.
Every taxi I get into in Singapore the driver, without fail says,
you English? Which Premier League club you support? They
usually support 1) Manchester United 2) Liverpool 3) the
whole of the English Premier League (EPL) – they just love
the action and of course the chance to gamble. Not once
have I ever met a taxi driver who says that they are a keen
Bundesliga fan.