How would you navigate power dynamics in a brand partnership to ensure both parties benefit equally?

In my experience, here are a few things that are key to a successful partnership 1. Right at the start, state the common purpose which unites both brands 2. Identify the key stakeholders and onboard them to this common purpose 3. Apart from the stated, look for soft pressure points, the other brand is trying to achieve in the context of their overall business. 4. Treat partnerships like customers - a little extra never ceases to delight. If during the association, you can figure a way to cater to their other goals then it makes sure you go a long way 5. Don't treat partnership as a temporary phase, approach it with permanence. It will help you create impact which goes beyond transactional, especially for your customers

When looking at partnership, assess whether your partner share assets that will complement your existing ones. Is that: - their audience (similar or complementary to yours), helping you increase appeal of your services with a bigger reach and new potential customers? - their pain points and lifestyles (that are similar to your core audience and where you can provide a solution to these whilst building relevance of your offering. Consider synergy, along with the suited approach needed to increase awareness and relevance of your services. All of these, whilst building on the trust your partner gained from their audience you’re trying to appeal to.

Establish Clear Objectives and Expectations: Begin by setting clear, mutually agreed-upon goals for the partnership. Both parties should understand what they hope to achieve and what success looks like. Clearly define roles, responsibilities, and expectations to ensure there’s no ambiguity. This helps in aligning efforts and reduces the risk of misunderstandings that could arise due to power imbalances.

Setting boundaries is crucial and establish the “do’s and don’t” from the onset. It enables a successful collaboration. Consider: - usage rights and duration various platforms assets can be used on - copyright - core messaging - brand guidelines conformity Above all, it is crucial the messaging of your brand resonate with the audience you’re trying to reach out to whilst keeping the authenticity and tone of voice of your partner. This is so the message can be well received by the audience you’re trying to reach out to via your partner

Foster Open and Honest Communication: Create an environment where both parties feel comfortable expressing their needs, concerns, and ideas. Regular check-ins and transparent discussions can help address any issues before they escalate. Encourage open dialogue to ensure that both partners feel heard and valued. This mutual respect and willingness to listen can mitigate power imbalances and foster a more collaborative relationship.

I would add that being transparent with your audience to is crucial. This also involve highlighting the nature of the activity you’re taking part in being a partnership.

Leverage Complementary Strengths: Focus on leveraging the unique strengths and resources each party brings to the partnership. Recognize and value the contributions of each partner, ensuring that the benefits are distributed fairly. By highlighting and utilizing each other’s strengths, both parties can achieve a more balanced and equitable partnership. This approach not only enhances the overall effectiveness of the collaboration but also ensures that both parties feel equally important and integral to the partnership’s success.

One practical approach towards achieving this is to define a core team of individuals who are enrolled into achieving success of the partnership. Get this team to meet at a defined frequency and allow for both structured review of common, defined goals and free space to exchange ideas to go beyond the current defined scope of engagement.

Celebration of smaller milestones is another way to reassure fence-sitters that the partnership is making progress and investing time and energies is going to further the wins. Remember, ultimately brands, organizations are all about people and how you manage them.

A crucial detail towards executing this piece is to make sure the team feels empowered to voice out the discomfort they are feeling. It can be about lopsided benefits or about the power struggles around who calls the shots. Similarly the team also needs to be coached towards being receptive to the other groups feelings. As unorthodox as it may sound, especially in corporate set-ups, communication is a key element to restore workability between teams which can get shrouded around feelings of not being treated equally

Choose your partner well. Focus on where you can complement each other with the least number of overlaps. This way there is less conflict of interest and both partners stand to gain the maximum benefit from the partnership.

Over the years, I have worked across various types of partnerships - from technical collaborations to brand partnerships that aim for a rub-off effect on each others audiences to creative collaborations with designers. One thing that goes a long way is acknowledging the differences - which are actually the complimentary set of skills which made you come together in the first place.