Five Ways to Make Retail Partnerships Work

In any economic climate, partnerships can be a good addition to a brand’s marketing mix. They provide increased reach, stretching of marketing budgets and positive brand associations. Just as important as choosing the right partner is ensuring that your partnerships are relevant in retail environments.

Here are five ways to manage retail partnerships:

1. Know your retailer
Regardless of how advanced and ground breaking a brand program is; if it isn’t relevant to key retail partners, it will not get support. This is especially true of partnerships. Brand partnerships by definition can get convoluted since you are dealing with multiple brands. Retailers want easy, intuitive programs.

For example, 7UP knew that Kroger was committed to its Computers for Kids program to support local schools with computer equipment. So 7UP partnered with Dell to create a robust in-store presence including Dell computers on-site in high volume Kroger locations. The promotion drove volume and ultimately provided the in-store display computers to Kroger’s adopted schools at the end of the promotion. This resulted in great public relations for all involved and addressed one of Kroger’s key strategic initiatives.

2. Turn challenges into solutions
Retailers have their own set of issues and goals that they are trying to solve and achieve. Identifying retailer’s needs and bringing partnership solutions that meet them will increase odds of success.

Walmart determined that it needed to bolster its health and wellness offerings to customers over 50. To answer this need, Kraft teamed up with several partner brands, including Triscuit crackers and Post cereals. Kraft provided a portfolio of “Sensible Solutions” better-for-you products across multiple categories and supported the products with demos, in store TV, at shelf signage and pull media such as Web and circular support. The program addressed Walmart’s needs, drove Kraft’s sales, and produced partner brands volume lifts of up to 18%.

3. Understand their shoppers
Make the investment in insight and take the time to really understand shoppers at your retailer partners. You can utilize the knowledge you gain to bring those retailers new partners or leverage existing ones to create effective programs.

CoverGirl was able to win a coveted Target value end-cap by leveraging insights about its shoppers. The company found that women cited editorial content and product reviews as the highest indicator of new make-up product trial. So, CoverGirl partnered with key publications like Cosmopolitan and Glamour that featured its products as editor’s picks and created an in-store display called The Winners Circle. The custom display brought the legitimacy of a trusted editor’s recommendation to the retail environment and Target loved it, giving Procter & Gamble, the maker of CoverGirl, a value end-cap in that category for the first time in P&G’s history with Target.

4. Think outside the occasion
Leveraging a partner can give you a new way to present your product to consumers. Show retailers how you can give their shoppers a reason to buy your product for a different use or at a different time of year than they normally would.

French’s Fried Onion Straws are usually only featured twice a year, at Easter and Thanksgiving, as an ingredient in green bean casserole. The company found that in Publix grocery stores its consumers’ indices overlapped favorably with Marie’s Salad Dressing. A partnership was born, and led to the Build a Better Salad program that ran in early summer. It gave French’s a secondary display in the produce department, grew both brands’ sales and gave Publix an exclusive offer it knew its shoppers would appreciate.

5. Look outside the category
Finding the right fit requires innovative thinking. Explore outside your current category and even outside your retail network. Consumer need should take precedence even if it means looking beyond your current distribution.

Shell Rotella, a heavy-duty motor oil used in diesel trucks, worked outside its normal channel with Bass Pro Shops. While generally you want to focus on retailers that carry your brand, sometimes there are opportunities beyond your normal set. Rotella discovered that Bass Pro consumers indexed heavily with all key indicators for its brand, but didn’t carry the brand. Because there were such complementary indicators, Shell was able to build both a retailer and brand partnership with Bass Pro. Not only did Shell achieve distribution, it used Bass Pro for a brand partnership that achieved secondary displays for Rotella in its normal retail channels like Walmart and Tractor Supply.

Anytime you can align retailer’s needs with your brand partner strategy, you have an outstanding opportunity to sell in. You have to show retailers how your partner programs can reach a target shopper, address a particular occasion, solve a problem or grow overall sales. Incorporating retailers’ needs into your brand partnership strategy can be challenging, but it’s a necessary step to ensure compliance, excitement and the ultimate success of your partnership programs.

Mary Lineburg is managing director at G2, Dallas. She can be reached at [email protected].