Musicians can teach Marketers a thing or two about profitable collaborations.

Look at the powerful and well-matched collaboration of Kendrick Lamar and Maroon 5. Their song Don’t Wanna Know ft. Kendrick Lamar topped the charts on January 28th. Not only did it extend Maroon 5’s record for the most No. 1s among groups on Billboard’s Pop Songs but it exposed the brand to a larger Insta-Gen audience.

According to ePoll Research’s The Hot List: Soundtrack to the Summer, Maroon 5 has a 74 percent Appeal among Insta-Gens compared Kendrick Lamar’s a 90 percent rating. Additionally, 75 percent of Insta-Gens say they Would Listen to the Artist’s New Music, compared to only 53 percent for Maroon 5.

A good music collaboration plays on the strengths of the collaborators. We used E-Score Music to evaluate what makes a couple of recent music collaborations work so well among Young Millennials (ages 20-26) and Insta-Gens (ages 13-19).

Starboy and I Feel It Coming, by The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk, illustrate the how synergy plays a role in successful collaborations. The musicians score similarly on many attributes like Would Recommend to Friends and Family and Would Listen to Artist’s New Music.

Profitable Collaborations Rely on Story, Strategy, Systems

Brands can benefit from collaborations and partnerships to extend audience reach, drive publicity, generate leads, and delight customers. However, if you start a campaign without a clearly defined strategy that targets the right audience and aligns with measurable business objectives, it’s not going to make a significant impact. At the core of successful partnerships is the alignment of each brand’s story, strategy, and systems.

Story – A great brand story boils down the essence of why your brand should matter to people. Ideally, it compels them to respond on an emotional level by giving them a reason to care, a reason to buy, and a reason to stay. Oftentimes when entering a partnership, marketers have a lack of timely, relevant customer insights to define a truly compelling yet simple story and to connect with and engage target audiences.

2Chainz Trap House is a great example of a simple and clear story – it promoted his album while tapping into emotion and gaining big time awareness for his philanthropy efforts.

Story without Strategy is Art; Story with Strategy is Marketing

Strategy – At the center of your Brand Strategy is the customer, and it is your responsibility to understand their wants, needs, and desires to mold the Customer Buyway. Understanding customer behavior will arm you with the insights needed to define specific segments that will demand specific marketing channels.

Systems – During a partnership, brands often have disjointed systems and different project management processes. This leads to a siloed view of how systems are running and performing during collaboration efforts. It’s essential to align the necessary systems to flawlessly execute the strategy – with the supporting organization, culture, performance measures, data, and technology. Uber and Spotify’s partnership is an excellent example of how brands can align systems to create a remarkable customer experience.

We’ve joined forces with Spotify, a world leader in streaming music, to enable you to remotely control the music that plays through your Uber’s speakers. Whether you’re starting the night with your pre-party mix or unwinding with a chill playlist on your way home, the choice is now yours with Uber. — Uber & Spotify = Music for Your Ride

The key to successful collaborations rests in simplicity, clarity, and alignment of the 3S’s. Learn more about how transformational leaders align Story, Strategy, and Systems to create remarkable and memorable customer experiences in our ebook: Transformational Marketing: Moving to the TopRight.

Photo credit: Billboard