More than a third of brands cited “awareness” as their primary goal last year. Successful retail stores spend three to five percent of their monthly sales on marketing, but how are these dollars best spent? Some experts say retail brand partnerships are the answer.

Retail Brand Partnerships Drive Awareness and Profits

The potential impact of a retail brand partnership is huge. According to a recent Forrester study:

• Seventy-seven percent of marketers view partnership development as “central” to their strategy.
• Partnership programs can contribute 18-28% of a company’s revenues. 
• Fifty-two percent of companies surveyed derive more than 20% of their revenue from a partnership. 
• Companies with mature partnership programs see two times the revenue growth. 
• These companies are also five times more likely to exceed stock price and bottom line profits. 
• Forty-five percent of respondents have seen a boost in brand awareness from a partnership this year.

Exactly How Do Retail Brand Partnerships Help Boost Awareness?

We can better understand precisely how retail brand partnerships work to drive awareness by looking at a few examples of mature partnerships in action.

• Shahla Karimi & Kenneth Cole: Kenneth Cole approached jewelry designer Shahla Karimi at a pop-up event to discuss collaboration. They ultimately created a product line together, which boosted the relatively unknown Shahla Karimi into the upper echelons of the fashion society. “Aligning with a globally-recognized and respected fashion veteran has been invaluable,” Karimi has said. “The social media cross-promotion and press recognition has given my customers validation and broadened my market greatly.”
• Waze & Dunkin Donuts: In 2012, Dunkin Donuts teamed up with the Waze navigation app to ensure their franchise locations were included on the map. Later, in 2017, they expanded the partnership, allowing Waze users to place Dunkin Donuts orders without leaving the app. The integration gave 86% of commuters driving to work the opportunity to conveniently place a mobile order. DD Perks loyalty customers were also able to integrate their rewards. Waze users found their commutes were just a bit quicker and more convenient with the suggestion of on-the-go breakfast. 
• Oasis & Herbal Essences: When Herbal Essences launched their “Bio Renewal” shampoo and conditioner, they partnered with UK fashion retailer Oasis to hone in on their female target audience. Fitting room posters included a product shot with consumer review quotes, while double-sachet samples were distributed to online customers. Oasis hosted a co-branded contest to win an overnight spa break for two, which coincided with Mother’s Day and resulted in 6,000 entries in the first three days alone and provided a great boost in visibility for both participating brands.
• Shopkick & Vitamin and Supplement Brand: Nutritional supplements can be a competitive market. A leading vitamin and supplement brand partnered with Shopkick—a mobile shopping rewards app—to boost sales of its B-12 and daily energy supplements at Walmart, and other national grocers and pharmacies across the nation. The brand knew that Shopkick’s large base of app users represented a huge opportunity to reach mobile customers even before they planned their shopping trip, and in the store. In fact, some of the shoppers hadn’t planned on going to the store until they checked their app and saw opportunities to earn rewards points, which they could eventually put toward a gift card of their choosing. Once in the store, Shopkick users would be invited to interact with the brand by watching videos, viewing a branded lookbook, and scanning products in-aisle. They could receive heightened rewards by actually making a purchase. Of those who purchased the product, 42% said they had not planned to buy the supplement prior to their visit to the store. The partnership was very valuable in boosting overall awareness and creating intent-to-purchase where there had previously been none.   

Retail brand partnerships are not only a matter of driving awareness, but of telling your story of convenience or authenticity, for example. Brand partnerships are able to convey core values, whether it’s to show that your availability is ubiquitous and convenient, or that you’re cutting edge by partnering with the latest mobile technology.

Retail brand partnerships are not only a matter of driving awareness, but of telling your story of convenience or authenticity, for example.

Creating a retail brand partnership is often simply a matter of reaching out to a brand that has similar values, an alignment between products and services, and a sizable base. Shopping campaigns with partners allow retailers to obtain better returns on digital marketing investments, capture performance metrics, and take traditional offline partnerships online at scale. With a modest investment, a quick uptick in brand awareness offers immediate results, driving your business growth to new heights.

Interested in becoming a Shopkick retail brand partner? Read more success stories or directly contact Shopkick. Our partners can tell you just how beneficial our loyal base of users can be to your marketing efforts. 

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