By Lee Metters, Brand Partnerships & Retail Media at Awin
It’s hard to be heard in a fresh market, let alone a saturated one. But clever brands have found a way to rise above the noise by forming symbiotic, non-endemic partnerships – banding together to expand their influence and engage with people in fresh, meaningful ways. But one ingredient is still sorely lacking in these partnerships.
Experimentation.
Too many brands are so eager (or under such pressure, whether it’s time, budget, or capacity) that they forget to test if their partnership-led campaign strategies can swim before throwing them into the deep end. They forget to experiment.
As a result, campaigns underperform. Targets are missed. Partnerships start to turn sour. And because not enough brands measure the full return on investment (ROI) of their marketing, nobody knows exactly why it isn’t firing on all cylinders.
So, here’s why and how to fix it.
Explaining non-endemic partnerships
Traditional endemic partnerships are when brands within the same or similar industry promote their products in a natural and expected way to their established audience. It’s when Alienware sponsors an eSports tournament, or Adidas advertises at a football stadium.
These partnerships make sense because the brands share a direct connection to the industry, audience, or content.
A non-endemic partnership is the opposite. That’s when brands from different industries team up to reach the same audience in a new way. For example, BMW could sponsor an eSports tournament – not because gaming has anything to do with cars, but because the audience (tech-savvy, young, high-disposable income) fits their buyer persona. Or Rolex could advertise in a financial services magazine, even though watches have little to do with the state of finance. But time is money, and finance professionals are the perfect audience.
More importantly, it means that fewer competitors from a given industry are vying for the audience’s attention.
The issue is that many non-endemic partnerships carry on launching campaigns the way they did with endemic partners instead of considering fresh, new ways to reach their audience. Thanks to the space being less saturated with competitors, they might still see better overall performance – but better is not the same as best.
And why leave money on the table?
Before, during, and after
Before creating a campaign and releasing it into the wild, brands need to consider the unique opportunities a non-endemic partnership holds. There’s more to non-endemic partnerships than you might think. They can boost brand awareness, and drive acquisition. In a real-world example, a leading UK electronics retailer, Currys, and a non-endemic retailer, BrandSwap, partnered to experiment with a post-purchase rewards advertisement campaign ahead of Black Friday.
By testing and using the insights from before, during, and after the campaign, they could offer compelling, non-endemic advertiser offers in a previously untapped section of their site, unlocking an entirely untapped revenue stream.
The results were big, with an average CPM of $77 since launch, peaking at $89 – placing it among top-performing retail media benchmarks. Click-through rates were also strong (reaching 10%), outperforming PPC, paid social, and display advertising industry averages.
Then, they took it to the next level.
By looking at those numbers, the retailer found clear trends. Brands sometimes forget to use their partnerships fully by analysing customer data and unearthing insights into shopping habits, preferences, and behaviours, which is essential in today’s privacy-focused world.
For example, demand for craft beer subscriptions surged in the lead-up to Christmas, followed by a spike in meal kits and healthy food products after the jolly season.
Armed with fresh insights, the retailer can now fine-tune its reward offerings for next year based on customer preferences and seasonal trends, growing the campaign’s maximum impact while creating a better shopping experience.
The practical instructions and final takeaway
From A/B testing in digital advertising to real-time consumer feedback loops, brands and their non-endemic partners can experiment with their campaigns in a multitude of ways before, during, and after launch.
The practical way to achieve this is by starting with a creative new campaign idea and assessing its potential impact.
This means testing different creative elements, messaging, and offers to see what resonates. That could mean A/B testing or experimenting with various call-to-action phrases or visual designs to see which garners more engagement. Using focus groups or pilot programs can also reveal trends or insights that help tweak the campaign before committing to a full-scale launch.
Once that’s done, monitoring and making real-time adjustments is essential. They should track key performance indicators – click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on investment – and adjust accordingly. When the campaign is finished, there should be a thorough analysis to identify successes and areas for improvement, reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and why.
This agile, test-and-learn mindset is the key to non-endemic partnerships that resonate with a brand’s target audience. By experimenting and testing before, during, and after, they can push past “good enough” and build exceptional campaigns that deliver meaningful, measurable results.
