KRW Consulting Hits 2-Year Milestone With Partnership Marketing Approach
NEW YORK, May 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At a time when the retail world is transforming with online growth and algorithm-driven marketing, brands find themselves surrounded by exciting opportunities. How can they stand out? How can budgets be spent in engaging ways that result in customer spending, not snoozing?
KRW Consulting, led by 25-year fashion industry veteran Kathleen Ruiz, has answers — and they are not what you would expect.
Nearly all large brands sporting eight- and nine-figure marketing budgets believe they have a partnership division within their marketing group. According to Ruiz, few actually do.
Partnership should not be confused with placement. It takes a lot more than pay-to-play to create an effective, memorable campaign.
"When I started in this business," says Ruiz, "the common wisdom was that brick-and-mortar businesses would disappear, but there are more and more real estate developments happening now. All these new retailers are getting smarter at creating experiences. Look at American Dream promising 45 percent retail and 55 percent entertainment. They're calling their megamall an 'experiential complex.' Compare that to your regular mall still doing the same retail strategies we've seen for decades. The only way they're going to survive is to create experiences. People still want to touch and feel —to believe."
The way to pour lifeblood back into brick and mortar, according to Ruiz, is through imaginative, compelling, and unexpected partnerships.
"How will brands collaborate in ways that delight consumers?" she asks. "Most companies don't have teams for this. They may not question what happens after the deal to keep the momentum going. When a partner integrates organically into a retailer's marketing channels in a way that leverages all of the opportunities on every side, including the consumer's, it's magical for everyone. That's what partnership marketing can accomplish when executed the right way."
Now that KRW Consulting has reached its two-year milepost, Ruiz is more convinced than ever that partnerships pervade more than brand connections. It also applies to the meeting of physical and digital as well as the blending of business types.
The traditional rules of partnership marketing have changed, Ruiz insists. The rulebook has been thrown out. She watched this trend play out in real-time, built a consulting business around the change, and is now helping clients to rediscover their faith in inspiration and experience.
Contact:
Beatriz Arana
[email protected]
SOURCE KRW Consulting
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