Lessons from failure: Four reasons why brand partnerships go wrong

An analysis of failed brand partnerships and what can we learn from them. There are four reasons they falter.

Partnering for growth

This article is part of a series of articles on partnering for growth. Read more.

Where to start

Brand partnerships have always been part of a marketer’s armoury, albeit under a constantly evolving stream of different relationship terms: partnership, affiliation, association, affinity, alliance, sponsorship, co-promotion, co-branding, product placement, and the current favourite, collaboration. Or ‘collab’ if you’re in the fashion industry, where the word has been replaced by a simple ‘X’, as in the Gosha Rubchinskiy X Burberrycollection in 2018.

Marketers are always looking to give their brands (and careers) an edge to stand...

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