Oddball and uncommon partnerships can bring surprisingly good results

Tony Bennett knew what he was doing when he teamed up with Lady Gaga. Enter the era of uncommon partnerships, where brands and businesses are collaborating to reach new audiences and unearth hard-to-find growth opportunities.

Rose Herceg is president, Australia and New Zealand at WPP

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been a fan of unusual unions. Things that to everybody else, made no sense, but to me seemed interesting, even a little bit odd. And because I hit the jackpot with parents who knew what they were doing, they never tried to rehabilitate me. Which means it’s a philosophy that I’ve embraced as a grown-up.

When it comes to partnerships in business, there is too much resource sucked into the vortex of the obvious. The predictable. The sensible. The common.

Very little time is given to exploring the lateral, the unusual, the oddball. Phrases like “core competence” kill off the ability to wander off untethered into unexplored territory. Places that allow for a serious discussion on the kinds of partnership that – at first glance – might seem unlikely.

At WPP here in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, we are having quite the love affair with uncommon partnerships. For one very good reason: new money can almost always be found there.

Growth for a business is harder than it has ever been in the past 20 years, and it will only get harder. Back in 2000, large multinationals and local ASX-listed businesses could expect to grow 6-7 per cent every year.

In 2024, you’ll be doing well if you can achieve 3 per cent, according to the International Monetary Fund.

One of the best ways to grow is to find new audiences. The single smartest way of doing this is to create partnership opportunities that open your business and brand to new customers who previously may never have thought of buying from you.

Much of this growth is laid at the feet of marketing.

Tony Bennett knew what he was doing when he partnered with Lady Gaga. He also knew he’d be opening himself up to an entire generation who’d never heard of him. Ever the shrewd businessman, he made a huge chunk of his personal fortune after the age of 70.

Bunnings knew what it was doing when it partnered with Bluey, Australia’s great cartoon export to the world. In the episode titled Hammerbarn, the Heeler family head out on a classic weekend mission: a trip to their local hardware store. Bluey teamed up with Bunnings to recreate the Hammerbarn experience, taking over stores around Australia and New Zealand and bringing Hammerbarn to life. These stores offered free Bluey-themed kids’ DIY workshops, exclusive Bluey products and limited edition Hammerbarn-branded merchandise. A smart and thoroughly Australian uncommon partnership.

Amazon is a trail blazer when it comes to uncommon partnerships. It has grown from a book e-tailer in 1994 to a business that can sell you almost anything online. Today it offers cloud computing, AI services, streaming, gaming, groceries, and some of the best content the world has ever seen. Good enough to take home an Oscar in one of the big categories (Best Screenplay for American Fiction) this year.

I remember pitching for the media account of one of the big four banks in 2013 and sharing a version of the future where Amazon would be investing more money in content creation that almost anyone else. Amazon studios didn’t exist then. I also remember the people in that room thinking I was nuts. Why would an eCommerce marketplace get into bed with Hollywood?

The answer? Because Amazon has never been afraid to explore uncommon partnerships. It explores them because it has always understood it’s the smart way to find new money.

Some of the best brand partnership conversations happen when we explore those that, on paper, seem odd. Especially for homegrown businesses that have to compete in a global marketplace. Aussie retailers, banks, telcos, start-ups, and healthcare businesses need to out-think their global competition. This means they need to look beyond the predictable. Beyond the obvious.

Right now, we’re putting together some strange meetings. Just recently we had two sets of clients meeting at our WPP Campus to discuss some new ways to partner. As they tiptoed around each other and cracked awkward jokes, the strangeness of it all slowly melted away. In potentially coming together they will both grow their reach. They will attract entirely new customers, invent a clever new revenue stream, and have some great stories to tell their kids and grandkids. Because the one huge upside I have yet to mention is this: it’s great fun to do something that has never been done before.

Something that delights your audience. Something that people remember. A shrewd move that everyone can admire.

Never underestimate the power of an uncommon partnership. If you get it across the line, good for you. If you don’t, simply exploring the possibility will grease the wheels for the next one.

Rose Herceg is president, Australia and New Zealand, ­at WPP.