Six Lessons in Brand Partnership Building

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We can’t build a brand on our own. It takes partnering with other brands and people to build our revenue and our social following. My latest conversation took place with Jason Flack, director of partnerships at Steady, an app that allows people to find jobs fast, seek financial advice, and save money with deals on everything from healthcare plans to tax assistance. Steady has a long list of impressive partnerships including Shaquille O’Neil, an investor, and an advisor to the company. Here are some of my takeaways from Jason:

Why did Shaq partner with Steady? During Jason’s conversation, he reiterated one thing, “value share”. In his words, “value share”, is the concept of making sure that both partners share similar values. For Shaq, Steady resonated with him on a deeper level: a personal connection with the founder.

Adam Roseman, the founder of Steady, started the app so his 71-year old father could look for extra work to sustain himself. This was no different than Shaq’s parents who would sometimes work two or three different jobs to keep a roof over his head, clothes on his back, and food on the table.

For Shaq, this wasn’t just another investment and brand partnership, but something that connected with him on a deeper level. He was able to understand how this would impact millions across the globe because this was a problem his own parents faced growing up. He didn’t want this to continue for the next generation.

Sometimes just showing up can change your life. Jason, at his previous job, worked at a company called CollarCard, a credit card-sized plastic card that contains pop-out collar stays that are stored in a man’s wallet. Their biggest source of clients were dry cleaners. One day Jason attended a dry cleaning meet up with 20 people and struck up a conversation with John Smith (not his real name). Jason reminded John of a younger version of himself and they hit it off. The next day he was invited to attend the Clean Show, the largest dry cleaning conference in the United States, as a member of his company ($5,000 value). This conference helped land the largest account ever for CollarCard and created 80 hot leads for the company.

Don’t be transactional. Jason never tried to sell John. He focused on figuring out ways to add synergies to the relationship that benefitted both of them. A partnership should never end with a sale. Think about your partners and customers like recurring relationships. How do you always bring them back to the table? How are you adding value to their lives?

Jason and John, it was about business and friendship. Jason would get leads through John, while John would get a 75% discount on CollarCard. They also became friends for life.

Don’t start and stop with a press release. Many brands will have an amazing announcement, write up a press release and issue it on the newswire. It ends there. They think their story will go viral and news outlets will pick it up. It doesn’t work that way.

Steady knew this! Recently, as part of the coronavirus pandemic, they announced $1000 grants for workers affected by the pandemic and have already distributed over $1.3MM in grants. After they issued the press release, they set up an Instagram Live with Shaq and Adam Roseman. This was broadcast to over 16.5 million people. Once that was finished, they shared the video and press release with potential and current partners.

In marketing terms, this concept is called top of mind awareness. When people think of a certain industry or category, your brand should come to their mind. When people think about getting a second job, they think of Steady.

More and more people will become comfortable doing business online. Coronavirus has completely changed the landscape of business for everyone including Steady. Steady’s announcement with Shaq was on IG live because they couldn’t meet in person. More and more people are sourcing deals on social platforms. However, Jason said deals aren’t going to happen over IG or Twitter DM. People will still need to speak over the phone/Zoom or face to face.

Always be learning. The biggest obstacle to growth is yourself. It’s important to realize you are always a student with something to learn. Find mentors to help you grow and who have done it before. Be someone that is always striving to create long-term relationships, not short-sighted wins.

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