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thesource
volume 6 | issue 66
june 2010
the partnership issue
Your Source for Interactive Marketing Insights

Trendwatch

by Tony Brinton, Director of Strategy

Intelligent brands in today’s market form strategic alliances with other brands to augment their offering. Alliances are different than co-branding. They extend beyond the four walls of an organization and connect with other suppliers, vendors and products that relate to the brand experience but don’t compete with it. One example is Starbucks and the New York Times. What is one thing lots of people love to do when they drink coffee? Read the paper. Just any old paper wouldn’t be right at Starbucks however. Starbucks is a premium brand and is positioned to appeal to people with some degree of intelligence and discriminating taste, certainly relative to one of the other reportedly most popular brands of coffee, Dunkin Donuts. The New York Times has national readership which is appropriate for Starbucks’ national footprint. It has a reputation for quality, insightful national and world reporting, editorial, style, fashion, arts & entertainment and technology news as well, all fitting the tastes of Starbucks’ customer persona. It’s certainly a win-win for both brands, giving them both a lift in the mind’s eye of their customer.

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The Source | June 2010

In this Issue

Partner of the Month

Rieches Baird Branding Agency
RiechesBaird is on the of top of the B2B Branding agencies in the Untied States of America. They have conducted brand strategy and brand communications initiatives for B2B brands all over the world including clients such as American Airlines, Berazzoni, Linksys, Toyota, Sharp and Edwards Lifesciences. Their unique model results in greater ROI for their clients and a seamless, streamlined approach to achieving their clients’ important business objectives.

Statistics Corner

  • 21% of American wireless subscribers have a smartphone at Q4 2009, up from 19% in the previous quarter and significantly higher than the 14% at the end of 2008
  • eMarketer estimates that 57.5% of all US Internet users, or 127 million people, will use a social network at least once a month in 2010.
  • According to a February 2010 survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey, a market research firm, 33% of Facebook users have become fans of brands on the network.

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