Creative partnerships offer huge potential to enhance communications strategies, and at this years’ Marketing Week Live & Insight Show, London, speakers from the world of music and film gave their insights into how these partnerships can best work.

1. GET ADVERTISING
SMART
Uncovering Value in
Creative Partnerships

2. G E T A D V E R T I S I N G S M A R T
Uncovering Value in Creative Partnerships
The potential for creative partnerships to enhance communications strategies was one of
the most interesting themes at this years’ Marketing Week Live & Insight Show, London.
With consumers crying out for ‘authenticity’, and the advertising industry faced with the
challenge of creating more standout, relevant messaging amongst all of the mass content,
partnerships with creative storytellers in industries such as music and film are perhaps
more relevant and fruitful than ever before.
PARTNERING WITH OTHER SHAPERS OF CULTURE
Brands partner with agencies to help share their stories. But advertising is just one part of
popular culture, with the TV, film and music industries also having a huge role to play in
shaping culture. Getting brands’ stories to the audience that matters is a crucial part of
telling their stories effectively.
In addition, communication between consumers has evolved, and arguably today “the
language of communications is at odds with consumers’ speak”
1
. If brands are rethinking
the language of the stories they tell, they may also benefit from speaking to their
audience through different sources.
Creative partnerships are not a new idea; advertising has long formed strategic
partnerships with industry leaders in other creative spaces, such as celebrities and
musicians, in order to boost sales. But creative partnerships offer a potential beyond
lifting consumer reach figures, with brands able to bolster their own credentials if they are
able to build authentic partnerships that do not feel like a bolt on.
TAPPING INTO THE CREATIVE DNA OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
The overall feeling from the event was that brands today had to be much more cautious
with their use of celebrities than before – the days of shoehorning-in the ‘talent’ in an
artificial way are very much dead. Consumers are crying out for authenticity in advertising
and will see right through fake marriages between brands and celebrities, instead “(the)
association needs to be clear and authentic”
2
.
Creating authentic relationships with celebrities is difficult, but it can be done. Johnny
Quinn, of the band Snow Patrol, claimed that the partnership between his band and
Guinness “just felt right, the key is to find a marriage”
3
.
1
Vanella Jackson, Global CEO, Hall and Partners
2
Leila Fataar Head of Culture and Entertainment, Diageo Europe
3
Johnny Quinn, Drummer, Snow Patrol

3. G E T A D V E R T I S I N G S M A R T
Uncovering Value in Creative Partnerships
Diageo Europe’s head of culture and entertainment, Leila Fataar, stressed that there
should be benefits to both parties. The key to a good creative partnership is:
“The value exchange: mutual benefit and mutual
appreciation”4
.
After all, working with a musician can improve a brand’s reach, but more importantly,
music has the ability to increase the memorability of a campaign: “music is a connector,
it’s emotional”
5
. In return the musician receives a financial reward and coverage. This
relationship is win-win.
KEY TAKE AWAY: Music has the potential to make an ad highly memorable, but it
must run through the DNA of the campaign in order to be effective, rather than appearing
as an add-on or after-thought.
LESSONS FROM BURBERRY: CINEMATIC STORYTELLING
Asif Kapadia, the Oscar and Bafta award-winning director of Burberry’s 2016 Christmas
campaign discussed how the campaign was a fresh approach for the luxury brand.
Burberry wanted to share its amazing heritage with today’s audience who were mostly
unfamiliar with the brand’s story, but it wanted to tell its story in an authentic and
compelling way. The director was tasked with “getting heritage into a brand and pulling it
off”
6
.
The campaign was shot in the style of trailer for a period drama: “the challenge was to
make a trailer for a film that didn’t exist”
7
. Not only did the campaign achieve amazing
global reach, clocking-up 22 million views on social media
8
, but it got many people asking
‘when is the movie coming out?’ Burberry was able to grip viewers and get them wanting
more.
“The challenge was to find the right balance between fiction,
drama, advertising and trying to do something new”9.
4
Leila Fataar Head of Culture and Entertainment, Diageo Europe
5
Leila Fataar Head of Culture and Entertainment, Diageo Europe
6
Asif Kapadia, Director, ‘The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ 2016
7
Asif Kapadia, Director, ‘The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ 2016
8
Asif Kapadia, Director, ‘The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ 2016
9
Asif Kapadia, Director, 'The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ 2016

4. G E T A D V E R T I S I N G S M A R T
Uncovering Value in Creative Partnerships
So how did they do it? The project was not treated as any ordinary ad campaign. As well
as being shot by a film director and edited by a movie trailer specialist, it had a star-
studded cast, with actors who “took it seriously, brought an emotional edge to it”
10
.
Asid revealed that there are often concerns about “being in an ad and selling something,
as an actor”
11
. However, the challenge for Burberry was “not trying to sell something,
(but) trying to sell this mood”
12
. It may be that when the work is authentic, when it lets
actors be true to their craft, the outcome is more believable and collaborations can feel
natural.
KEY TAKE AWAY: Getting the right people on board and letting them be true to their
craft is key to making partnerships work.
IN CONCLUSION
Partnering with other creative industries can inject a lot more than fresh energy into a
campaign. Of course it is a method for increasing brand campaign reach and targeting the
right audience. But beyond this, finding the right partnership can be like a perfect
marriage. It can inspire trust and associate authenticity with your brand, create standout
work that surprises and delights, and ultimately tells a highly compelling story that gets
you noticed.
10
Asif Kapadia, Director, ‘The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ 2016
11
Asif Kapadia, Director, ‘The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ 2016
12
Asif Kapadia, Director, ‘The Tale of Thomas Burberry’ 2016

5. G E T A D V E R T I S I N G S M A R T
Uncovering Value in Creative Partnerships
If you are interested in learning more about the subject of this article, please contact
Sophie Best, Insights Manager, bests@bbdoknows.com
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