Australian financial services companies are no strangers to cobranded marketing campaigns. Indeed, behind many great long-standing customer experiences are partnerships between financial services brands. Think MasterCard and banks. Group life insurance providers and superannuation funds. Wrap accounts and fund managers. The list is long. So, while cobranding is a stalwart competency for our industry, there are creative opportunities for marketing teams to take cobranding up a notch.

You can use brand partnerships to powerfully reach more customers and deliver compelling buyer experiences that resonate deeply.

Here are four ways that brand partnerships can be used to drive engagement and growth.

1. Reach new customers

Brand partnerships can put your brand in front of the customer base of your partner – expanding your reach and potential for customer acquisition. If you want to grow your share of a specific market segment, partnering with a complementary brand that already has a large share of that niche is an effective strategy.

For instance, Cash App – a peer-to-peer payment platform from Square – wanted to acquire new, younger customers. So, it partnered with other brands with a similar target audience, such as Spotify. On Spotify, Cash App made it easy for customers to use their platform to financially support their favourite artists directly. Cash App also partnered with hip hop artists such as Cardi B and Travis Scott – triggering a viral campaign that resulted in over 200 hip hop artists specifically naming Cash App in their lyrics.¹ Cash App also set up collaborations with gaming providers: Nintendo Animal Crossing and 100 Thieves². Each of these partnerships enabled Cash App to reach new customers at a faster rate than its nearest competitor, PayPal’s Venmo.³

Another example of how brand partnerships can help reach new customers is Medibank’s partnership with ‘parkrun’. Parkrun is a free weekly run held at over 450 locations across Australia, giving Medibank exposure to over 1 million parkrun participants – Medibank’s target market.⁴

2. Develop innovative products

Collaboration with another brand can birth the development of innovative experiences that combine the unique strengths of both partners. For example, a partnership between MLC Life Insurance and Swiss Re Reinsurance Solutions led to the launch of Wysa Assure, Australia’s first AI-guided mental health support chat bot.

Wysa provides MLC Life Insurance Customers with self-care modules, wellness tracking and escalation pathways to human care. Wysa Assure makes it faster and easier for customers to get the mental health support they need.⁵

3. Strengthen customer engagement

By working with a product that your customer is already passionate about, brand partnerships can create unique and engaging customer experiences. Here you use your capabilities to make it easier for your customers to get more of what they want – strengthening your customer’s engagement with your brand.

For instance, MasterCard Australia knows that for many Australians, getting tickets to see their favourite musician live in concert is something they’re passionate about. By partnering with Live Nation, MasterCard Australia offers its card holders exclusive presale tickets, premium seats and VIP experiences. In facilitating events that provide lifelong memories, cardholder relationships with MasterCard are strengthened.⁶

Here’s another example: many Telsa owners love their cars with a fervour rarely experienced by other car brands. Zurich Australia, through its partnership with Telsa, became the preferred insurance provider for Telsa’s Australian customers, offering car insurance to new and existing Telsa customers conveniently through the Telsa app. Among other benefits, ‘InsureMyTesla’ covers all vehicle repairs using Tesla’s accredited repair network.⁷ Telsa owners get an integrated, highly relevant experience and Zurich gets in front of over 100,000 Tesla owners.⁸

4. Share insights

Partnerships often involve sharing customer data and insights, which can provide valuable information for both parties. Financial services companies can use this data to better understand customer behaviour, preferences and needs, allowing products and services to be tailored more effectively. This data-driven approach can lead to more personalised and relevant customer interactions.

For example, CommBank collaborated with National Seniors to promote scam awareness among older Australians. This partnership brought together National Seniors’ understanding of the lived experiences of older people with CommBank’s insights into the scams the bank sees – and how to avoid them. The collaboration provided relevant and focused support in the fight against scams.⁹

The power of collaboration

Because marketing costs are shared, collaborative marketing efforts can be more cost-effective than traditional marketing campaigns – with the benefit of much greater visibility and impact. By strategically leveraging brand partnerships, financial services companies can engage and reach more customers and differentiate versus competitors.

At Crafted Writing, we’re finance content experts. We draw on our many years of experience to help you craft creative and captivating campaigns for your brand. Email us at hello@craftedwriting.com