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mia pearson

In business, as in life, teamwork can be a powerful thing. But sometimes in our drive to think creatively about our own industries we forget that some of the most fruitful partnerships can be struck with companies from different industries.

The key is recognizing the power of potential partnerships in unexpected places so that like-minded brands can deliver better results faster than simply going it alone.

It can be as straightforward as partnering with other businesses in a region or neighbourhood to create a destination for customers and promote the area. Other times it's considering thinking through how your business can complement a potential partner's offerings.

Take, for example, Big Reds at Big White, an annual event held at the popular Big White ski resort in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, which brings together many of the area's top wineries.

The weekend getaway is designed for people who love skiing, and who also enjoy a glass of wine after a day on the slopes. The event brings together wine makers from across one of Canada's top wine-producing regions, and provides a forum for them to offer samplings and tastings for skiers and snowboarders.

What started as a single-day event has expanded in the past three years to two evenings that always sell out quickly. Last December I witnessed first-hand the impact of this remarkable example of a true cross-industry partnership, and brought back a few takeaways:

1. Recognize a natural opportunity. Partners may come from different industries, but remember that small businesses all share common goals: attracting new customers to share an experience. When there is an opportunity to enhance the customer experience through a partnership, it raises the value of the experience for both brands.

In this case, Big White is able to enhance a ski weekend experience for its patrons by bringing in winemakers from across the region, while winemakers are able to put their creations in front of a captive audience from their target demographic.

But remember to stay true to your brand. Find common ground that will enable you to find new opportunities in one another's networks. However, to make the partnership truly successful, you need to stick to your core values. Losing sight of what's important to your brand will only devalue the experience for the customer.

2. Hyper-target your audience. It's not just about you, it's about understanding your target audience and then thinking outside the box.

The timing of this weekend-long event, Dec. 5 to 6, is an important component for both brands. It's a great way to kick off the ski and snowboard season and create a vacation get-away package before the holidays.

The timing of the event also coincides with the release of many of the region's wineries red wine vintages, making it possible for local winemakers and winery staff to attend.

Of course, you want to try and keep the party going on social too. In this case, the hashtag #eatdrinkski was created so that even consumers who couldn't make it to the event could follow along on with the action.

Since Big White and the local wineries were already highly active on social, it made sense to continue engaging with their online community in order to promote the new partnership.

There's a natural opportunity in partnering with complementary brands. Not only can these kind of partnerships help expose your brand to new networks, they offer an opportunity to bring new experiences to your own customer base.

Big Reds at Big White can teach us a big lesson in strategic partnerships. They might not all be immediately obvious, but if you look, you may find they're closer than you thought.

Mia Pearson is the co-founder of North Strategic. She has more than two decades of experience in creating and growing communications agencies, and her experience spans many sectors, including financial, technology, consumer and lifestyle.

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