Brand Partnerships - Paper Maker Lessons
Partnerships have been around since the beginning of time and have continued to shift within many variations. This has range from your favorite celebrities to your favorite brands. If done right, they could build revenue along with recognition for both parties. Yet, has this become a buzzword mixed with a phrase that doesn’t hold any worth any longer? I think not, well - if done right.
This morning news broke about 2 unique partnerships - (THE) Beyonce x Peloton along with Target x Ulta Beauty. For the woman in your life, her energy just went up a couple notches. But each of these partnerships hold lessons and leverage on the different versions of B2B (Brand- to - Brand) partnerships:
The Set Up: Within this partnership, Peloton ($104.40/pps) noticed that their audience were card carrying members of the Beyhive and merged their love into linking into content that will keep them using the app. Along with new audience segments that might convert to the exercise empire. You see, there are some who want to fork out the cost of a bike ($1800+) or treadmill ($4300) and those who want to stay within your budget snatching the app for $13/month. More than likely the content will be housed for all users. Like Drake says, Girls like Beyonce and Peloton gets it.
It’s Bigger: Another ting is that the Partnership is a bigger ride than just the content, it forged a new Student Initiative. Queen Bey x Peloton says it will also be giving two-year Peloton Digital memberships to students at 10 HBCUs, providing access to a library of fitness classes through the Peloton App that can be used with or without equipment!
Investor Focus: Peloton has been seeing their sales go up (Q1 sales surged 232%) as the pandemic keeps folks from the gym, but on the flip side their share prices have been dipping a bit more than Freaky Nasty singing ‘Da Dip. But with this announcement Peloton shares were trading 3.51% higher at $103.52 in Tuesday’s premarket session. Peloton's stock has a 52-week high of $139.75 and a 52-week low of $17.70. They are expected to rack up $3.9 billion in total revenue in 2021, up from a prior range of $3.5 billion to $3.65 billion. This partnership could make that forecast factual than ever before. Plus this could be the leverage that Adidas ($166.56 /pps) could need to scale their products within cross-promotion. Did you see that Ivy Park sold out in minutes? Whew.
The Lesson:
Listen to your audience and see what they are looking for in your platform/biz model. Formulate that in a way that it will not seem forced but flow. Metrics are good, but movement in key areas of your biz will show you what they want.
Make it bigger than the brands. With this partnership, there is philanthropy connected to it. Due to the current pulse of the world, racism has been an annoying soap opera. Working with HBCUs shows how both brands combat against it beyond making some white-washed statement.
Target x Ulta Beauty
Target has become one of the most visited brands (in-store and e-commerce) by the Women demographic (especially HENRY's - High Earners, Not Rich Yet...yes, that’s a thing)! Over the last 18 months you might’ve noticed that the brand has remodeled everything from their User Experience to their store footprint, now to make it even more impressive, there will be 100 Mini Ulta Beauty mini-stores within the place that I can stay hours in. Let’s break it down a bit:
The Set Up: Target and Ulta Beauty have struck a deal to open makeup and skincare shops inside of hundreds of Target stores across the country. They will be 1,000 square feet and will be staffed with Target employees trained by Ulta *grabs hamper and highlight*. The pandemic has really been making brands think outside the box when it comes to connecting and converting with their audience in innovative ways. While this model was first launched by Sephora x JCPenny, the scalability that Target x Ulta Beauty is doing shows long-term favorability.
Know Your Audience: Collectively, Target x Ulta Beauty have more than 100 Million active loyalty program members across Target Circle and Ultamate Rewards — with more than 33 Million of those coming from Ulta. Most of their respective audiences shop at both brands and merging will allow them to experience the convenience of one-stop shopping.
Investor Focus: Ulta Beauty ($266.95 /pps) has been hit hella hard by closures due to Rona Mae Jenkins and for Targe’ ($157.23/pps), they have been tapped by the pandemic when it comes to earnings. Ulta Beauty sales dropped by 26.7% in the second quarter year over year but have gradually improved. Ulta shares were up about 6% and Target shares were up more than 2% after the announcement. Both have strong gains for investors/stakeholders.
Lessons:
Convenience is the new coint. There is a meme floating around social media stating that people will pay for convenience (myself being one of them). And both brands have continuously shaped their user experience to appease their audience and vendors.
Scalability is a strategy within itself. With brand partnerships, don’t look for it to just be a one-shot in the dark type of campaign. How can it grow between brands and audiences? Does it connect with more than one level with each respective brand or is it a one-night stand. Those partnerships with longevity see higher engagement than others. Dysfunction can happen if it doesn’t seem organic.
Brand Partnerships, if done right, can brang (bring, you know I’m ratchet) bands/paper for both parties involved. The key is to understand the storytelling within the data and how it can influence the audience more than just a double-tap. The lessons brought up are just a bit-size case study of how they can be pivotal and profitable. Which one are you excited about? Me? Both. And for investors, the theory of ‘Consume What You Consume” can still work in this instance, if researched.
Girls (Women) love Beyonce, Target and Makeup. Facts on stacks!