9 KILLER STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP EXAMPLES v.6

@DisruptiveDave

Startups and big brands doing it right by leveraging shared audiences.

READ ON

WHAT: The popular action camera maker now allows automatic live streaming via product integration with Periscope (owned by Twitter). WHY: From Twitch to Facebook to YouTube, live streaming is the hyper-growth area for consumer digital media consumption. WHO WINS: Neither company’s stock is performing well, and both seem to be focused on product improvements and experiments to help them stay atop current trends. Periscope gets seamless access to a solid base of content creators, and GoPro expands the capabilities of its product re: audience engagement and development. WATCH FOR: Those sports property partnerships GoPro has could use this new channel is interesting ways if they embrace live streaming wholeheartedly.

GoPro & Periscope

source: http://bit.ly/1ZZo97u

WHAT: Lyric annotations from Genius are now available during streaming of certain playlists and songs on Spotify. WHY: Everyone is betting on streaming to save the music industry, but it’s an environment that’s still developing and wide open for first-ever product integrations like this. WHO WINS: This is Genius’ first significant music partnership and the startup is still searching for a valid revenue path, so this deal helps further that exploration. With a fast-paced battle among a few players to win the streaming wars, the introduction of annotated lyrics could assist Spotify in gaining more paid subscribers. WATCH FOR: My first test of the integration was pretty disappointing. You’re not only tasked with reading lyrics in real-time as the song plays, but also annotations and asides that kind of break up the flow of the tune. Will this be a problem for others?

Spotify & Genius

source: http://bit.ly/1PQri1T

WHAT: The video chat app enlisted Sir Paul to lend his voice to Valentine’s Day “mojis” – animated messages users can send through the chat feature. WHY: It’s easy to imagine that any new feature like this will cause a spike in usage and/or engagement, particularly when a big-name celebrity is involved. WHO WINS: This isn’t the first content partnership Skype has struck and I doubt it significantly moves the needle for either side, but it is indicative of the trend towards finding ways to place marketing content inside messaging apps. WATCH FOR: Custom emojis, filters, and animations are starting to catch fire for both brands and platforms – see Snpachat’s recent purchase of Bitmoji.

Skype & Paul McCartney

source: http://bit.ly/25Gp6Wl

WHAT: The media giant becomes the ad sales lead for all content owned and created by the popular messaging platform. WHY: Snapchat boasts over 1.55 billion monthly users and has quickly grown into the preferred media outlet for millennials, and its ad inventory is starting to get gobbled up by big brands. WHO WINS: Snapchat is on the cusp of becoming a legit ad platform, but big brands are still weary of the new types of engagement ephemeral media offers. Viacom is trying to shed its old-school-TV roots and should be able to pump up its revenues while offering legitimacy to Snapchat’s ad sales. WATCH FOR: How successful will Viacom be when bundling TV buys with Snapchat ad space?

Viacom & Snapchat

source: http://on.wsj.com/1PQrQ8a

WHAT: Facebook is going HARD on growing its already-impressive Messenger user base and part of that includes enticing users with partnerships like this, in which they can search and share songs hosted on Spotify right from the Messenger app. WHY: 800+ million Messenger users, that’s why. WHO WINS: Facebook knows the potential of serving brand ads into the messaging environment, and the Spotify integration gives users more of a reason to stick around. For Spotify, it means more/easier viral sharing, which equates to more awareness. Don’t forget Spotify gained its initial users through a Facebook integration. WATCH FOR: A deep, contextually relevant advertising partnership between the two platforms could be very interesting.

Facebook & Spotify

source: http://tcrn.ch/1ovcy2h

WHAT: Through a partnership with GIF search engines Giphy and Riffsy, users can now search GIF libraries within Twitter’s app and attach to tweets. WHY: Twitter is searching for anything to help stall its falling growth and engagement numbers, and GIFs are extremely popular digital content, especially for younger age demos. WHO WINS: Giphy and Riffsy score big with a gigantic social media partner who happens to have deep pockets. From the product side, easier access to GIFs is certainly a bonus for Twitter users, but will it impact engagement? WATCH FOR: As more and more digital services fail to establish baked-in revenue streams (Genius, Giphy, etc.), product integration partnerships like this become even more attractive.

Twitter & Riffsy/Giphy

source: http://bit.ly/235nSFm

WHAT: “Music’s Biggest Night” brought in GoPro to bring the live event’s action even closer to at-home fans by placing cameras inside each trophy handed out on stage. WHY: For The Grammys, the goal was to bridge the gap between the live experience and those sitting at home, while GoPro was set to increase international exposure on a grand stage. WHO WON: We can probably file this one under “good idea, bad execution.” Most presenters and winners simply didn’t know how to handle the trophy with a camera in it, so we saw a whole bunch of fingers and ceiling shots. WATCH FOR: GoPro continues to explore new ways to add value to live events, but the brand needs to rethink its non-sports approach.

GoPro & Grammys

source: http://bit.ly/1TvWCK9

WHAT: The video hosting site adds to its creator tools with Wipster, a video editing review and approval service. WHY: Both services make products for video creators and both aim to make the entire process – from production to publishing – as smooth as possible. WHO WINS: Vimeo continues its differentiation path from YouTube, but the real boon here is for Wipster, which gains access to well over 100 million video uploaders. WATCH FOR: If you make something valuable enough, positioning your service into a tailored marketplace like this can be very beneficial, but it all comes down to what resources you need to assign to the partnership and the resulting ROI.

Vimeo & Wipster

source: http://bit.ly/1qpXDYS

WHAT: KLM is partnering with Facebook Messenger to offer flight updates and customer service through the app. WHY: Facebook gets to solidify the Messenger app as a true platform and KLM is simply going where its customers already spend their time. WHO WINS: The more activity on Messenger, both consumer and business based, the more value it has for Facebook in several ways. For KLM, it’s able to remove friction from customer support transactions. WATCH FOR: Again, is Facebook building the next big advertising platform with Messenger? If so, the more consumer purchase behavior it can track, the richer its offering will be to brands.

Facebook & KLM

source: http://bit.ly/1VqBAgb

Co-founder, BoomboxFM Head of Growth, Audiokite Research

Dave Marcello

startupgrowthguy.com @DisruptiveDave