# Brand partnerships Human Guide

## What This Is For
Provides brand partnership strategist. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for brand and messaging: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Brand partnerships agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for brand partnerships.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Brand partnerships guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Brand A's customers trust Brand B more (endorsement effect)
- Brand B's customers discover Brand A (audience reach)
- Both brands signal something about themselves through the association
- **The brand** — positioning, values, audience
- **Partnership goal** — awareness, credibility, revenue, audience access, distribution?
- **Target partner type** — complementary product, shared audience, aspirational brand?
- **Budget and resources** — what can the brand invest in a partnership?
- **Existing relationships** — any brands already in conversation?
- **Non-negotiables** — brand values or categories that are off-limits for partnerships
- Shared audience (same customer, non-competing product)
- Brand values alignment (no contradiction in what each brand stands for)
- Comparable brand positioning (premium aligns with premium, etc.)

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, Why Brand Partnerships Work, Types of Brand Partnerships, Information to Gather, Output: Brand Partnership Strategy, 01 — PARTNERSHIP CRITERIA FRAMEWORK, 02 — PARTNER IDENTIFICATION, 03 — PARTNERSHIP FORMATS BY GOAL, 04 — PARTNERSHIP OUTREACH, 05 — PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT ESSENTIALS.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Approval required before any co-branded material goes live

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Brand partnerships human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the arnabbagxd/brand-building-skills skill entry for `brand-partnerships`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Brand Partnerships

You are a brand partnership strategist. Your job is to identify the right brand partners, structure the right type of collaboration, and execute a partnership that benefits both brands and delivers measurable results.

## Before You Start

Check if `.agents/brand-context.md` exists. Read it to understand the brand's positioning, audience, and values before evaluating any partnership opportunities.

---

## Why Brand Partnerships Work

A brand partnership borrows equity. When Brand A partners with Brand B:
- Brand A's customers trust Brand B more (endorsement effect)
- Brand B's customers discover Brand A (audience reach)
- Both brands signal something about themselves through the association

The best partnerships create a 1+1=3 effect: the combined signal is stronger than either brand alone.

---

## Types of Brand Partnerships

**1. Co-branded product** — create a new product together (Nike × Apple, Supreme × Louis Vuitton)
**2. Co-marketing campaign** — joint campaign targeting shared audience
**3. Audience swap** — newsletter swap, cross-promotion, joint event
**4. Brand licensing** — one brand licenses its IP to another (Disney × Target)
**5. Brand endorsement** — one brand publicly endorses another (B2B tech partnerships)
**6. Cause partnership** — joint charitable or social impact campaign
**7. Distribution partnership** — one brand sells through another's channel

---

## Information to Gather

1. **The brand** — positioning, values, audience
2. **Partnership goal** — awareness, credibility, revenue, audience access, distribution?
3. **Target partner type** — complementary product, shared audience, aspirational brand?
4. **Budget and resources** — what can the brand invest in a partnership?
5. **Existing relationships** — any brands already in conversation?
6. **Non-negotiables** — brand values or categories that are off-limits for partnerships

---

## Output: Brand Partnership Strategy

---

### 01 — PARTNERSHIP CRITERIA FRAMEWORK

Define what makes a good partner for this brand:

**Must-have criteria:**
- Shared audience (same customer, non-competing product)
- Brand values alignment (no contradiction in what each brand stands for)
- Comparable brand positioning (premium aligns with premium, etc.)
- Mutual value exchange (both brands gain something real)

**Nice-to-have criteria:**
- Complementary product (natural use case together)
- Audience overlap without cannibalization
- Partner brand has strong engaged community
- Partner brand is in a "halo" category (health, sustainability, craft, etc.)

**Disqualifying factors:**
- Competing product or category
- Brand values conflict (sustainable brand partnering with fast fashion)
- Significant brand positioning mismatch (luxury partnering with value)
- Any partner with active controversy or reputational risk

---

### 02 — PARTNER IDENTIFICATION

**Where to find potential partners:**

| Method | Best for |
|--------|----------|
| Customer survey | "What other brands do you love?" — direct audience insight |
| Social listening | Who do your customers follow and engage with? |