Collaborative marketing is a popular marketing tool which seems tailor-made for the Internet age. It has the possibility to bring together several brands from a similar sector under a single marketing banner in the form of a directory, an email or in a “marriage of convenience” like a compeitition. Collaboration with other brands is nothing radically new. For many years Direct Marketing companies have been using collaborative door-drops in direct mail sending out voucher packs and multiple leaflets in one envelope, and more often than not, the aim was to encourage consumers to switch brands. The Internet has actively enouraged more companies to follow the collaborative approach, finding that the comparison of related offerings and the spur of the moment diversion into other related areas of interest through following the links is just how people use the web and the common search engines.
For collaborative marketing to work well, there has to be a genuine commonality of purpose, beliefs and attitude amongst the participating partners. Greenpeace for example would look pretty stupid running a competition with a gas guzzling 4×4 as the prize, no matter how much “perceived value” such a prize would have. To be active in the same sector just is not enough. A good example of such a collaborative approach using a competition theme is the just launched exercise from Cafédirect, Responsible Travel and specialist provider Pura Aventura. This particular competition is intended to promote a range of ethically and responsibly sourced coffees which are now available in Waitrose. Grown in high remote valleys overlooking the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, it seems logical to team up with a company that could offer Peru Holidays as a prize and even more obvious to select a partner that could arrange holidays to Peru that covered the Inca Trail.
Far more essential to the credibility, moral authority and therefore ultimate success of this competition is the shared principles amongst all the partners. Just as Cafédirect majors on the sustainable and responsible theme, so too Pura Aventura, pushes its responsible, active holidays without compromising the local environment, the indigenous people and minimising the carbon footprint of the entire expedition. Ultimately it is an expansion of the social media idea of the Whuffie – “Increased Social Capital through reputation gained by being seen to do the right thing”. Pura Aventura’s active holidays to Latin America are run by a small team and delivered by a dedicated network of local partners, businesses run by families and local guides who are experts in their field. This fits in nicely with the Cafédirect ethos of striving always to be fair in dealing with others and willing to work in a way that is empowering to the growers, colleagues, suppliers and consumers whose lives Cafédirect touches.