Valentines 2019 Blog: 04.02.2019
Which businesses love each other? Which brand partnerships have successfully won the heart of the consumer? Which two entrepreneurial partners created an outstanding business together?
We named our creative agency me&you because we develop successful partnerships with our clients and we love to work collaboratively. Here we take a light-hearted look at our pick of The Greatest Ever Business Partnerships:
Walkers & Gary Lineker
James Bond & Aston Martin
Michael Marks & Tom Spencer
Rimmel & Kate Moss
Go Pro & Red Bull
National Geographic & Emma Watson
Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak
Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield
Virgin Media & Usain Bolt
Ford & Tinder
Walkers & Gary Lineker
As a British creative agency, we firstly pay homage to the British brand Walkers, who make 7 million delicious bags of crisps every day for the potato-loving public. The Leicester heritage of Walkers made Leicester-born football legend Gary Lineker the top choice of cheeky-grinned, big-eared brand ambassador back in 1994. Yet 25 years later, Gary is STILL on our screens advertising the brand, and Walkers & Gary Lineker represent an incredibly long-lasting and lucrative partnership. No red card for Gary - he’s just filmed the 2019 ad with actress Emily Atack.
James Bond & Aston Martin
Apparently the producers of the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger had to beg Aston Martin to lend them a DB5 for filming - imagine the loss of brand equity over the decades if the car brand had turned them down! Two quintessentially British icons have been linked ever since. And yes - we count the James Bond franchise as a business here, despite 007 being a fictional character! Box office receipts from James Bond films have totalled approximately $5.6 billion after all.
Michael Marks & Tom Spencer
Beloved brand Marks & Spencer started life as Michael Marks’ penny bazaar stall in Kirkgate Market in Leeds in 1884. However Marks realised he needed a partner in 1894 and chose Tom Spencer, his senior cashier. One of the greatest ever business partnerships was formed. The two men complemented each other - Marks had flair as a salesman and company figurehead, whereas Spencer had steady business sense and accounting skills. Today, two pairs of Marks & Spencer knickers fly through the tills each second. This Valentines Day, fancy lingerie will be snapped up by ardent lovers in Britain, however what British women really love are the big, comfy pants they can rely on from Marks & Spencer!
Rimmel & Kate Moss
Supermodel Kate Moss has been telling us to 'Get the London Look' since 2001, when her partnership with Britain's best-selling cosmetics brand Rimmel began. It was a brilliant marketing decision by Rimmel’s branding team - partner the most sought-after highly-paid fashion icon with a low-end product and watch the brand perceptions transform. Moss was perhaps persuaded to front that first campaign via a mixture of nostalgia and patriotism:
“It’s a brand very close to my heart; my first ever lipstick was Rimmel Heather Shimmer.”
GoPro & Red Bull
It can be a great shared success when two like-minded brands partner up and feed off each other. Red Bull & GoPro are both high-energy, young, dynamic brands and portray a fearless lifestyle. As a creative agency working in branding, digital and content, at me&you we admire the way they’re leveraging one another to produce exciting content and create face-to-face experiences.
National Geographic & Emma Watson
When an Instagram campaign is run by one partner with 99.2million followers and another with 50million followers, you know the results are going to be electrifying! British actress Emma Watson partnered with National Geographic on International Women’s Day in March 2016 to become the first @NatGeo guest editor due to her passionate activism for women’s equality. Emma curated the account, and highlighted the work of eight National Geographic female photographers. Hermione Granger would definitely approve.
Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak
As creatives, we weren’t going to leave out the Steves! Those Apple-branded devices are very much part of our me&you digital studio in Kent. Founders of Apple Computers, Steve Wozniak was brilliant at building electronics from scratch, and Steve Jobs shone at marketing. Tucked away in a family garage in California, the two friends invented the first product for a business now worth $818 billion. As described above for Marks & Spencer, the two men had very different strengths - Wozniak loved the process of solving technical problems and Jobs loved the creativity of developing ideas into a business.
The partners were co-dependent.
Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield
The inclusion of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream here is just an excuse to buy some of the delicious creamy stuff for our photoshoot, and make smutty jokes about Valentines night and ice cream. But Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield are famous business partners in their own right, and were some of the first to prioritise corporate social responsibility. As consumers we love a rags to riches story, and these partners started with a $5 correspondence course in ice cream-making...
Virgin Media & Usain Bolt
Here’s another brand partnership that just makes perfect sense - the best branding solution is often the simplest. Virgin Media are all about speed and therefore chose the speediest man in the world as their brand ambassador. A huge investment no doubt to partner with such a global star, but Bolt’s charisma brings huge credibility and humour to the brand, and Virgin Media have continued the partnership over seven years in order to stand out in the competitive telecoms marketplace.
Ford & Tinder
Tinder gets a special mention on our Valentines blog for obvious reasons. We’ll call it a ‘relationship networking app’ here to preserve decency. Ford Mustang & Tinder is a fascinating brand partnership since they appear to have little synergy. However Tinder’s VP explains the 2017 campaign: “The Mustang forever changed the way that people think about American sports cars. Tinder has changed the way that people meet. It made sense for us to work together and spark some new connections.” Ford digital advertising on Tinder featured the messaging “It’s the date you’ve been waiting for – Ford Mustang wants to take you on a blind date like no other” and users swiped right to take part. The romantic wheels were then set in motion via a London date inside a Ford Mustang.
Set up a partnership with me&you by contacting our creative team today! We’d love to collaborate with your business on branding, digital and content.
Join us on me&you social media to nominate other great partnerships you think we should have included!