Creating Powerful Strategic Alliances.

• Author: Aldisert, Lisa
• Position: Banking and financial services industry - Brief Article

One way you can increase your sphere of influence is by developing strategic alliances with other marketing professionals. This calls for a deeper level of networking along with a willingness to share information and resources. Why is this important? As a marketing guru, you are responsible for bringing together the best resources available to execute your organization's marketing strategy. Many of these resources are in-house, but others may be easily and readily available externally if you use some imagination and creative networking.

Corporate strategic alliances are ongoing structured business relationships between two parties. For example, companies may join together for marketing, distribution or purchasing reasons. Here are examples of some successful strategic alliances outside of the banking industry.

* FedEx has partnered with Intel by providing Intel with logistics services. It provides a warehouse and distribution services for the chips that Intel manufactures in Southeast Asia. FedEx does what it does well--using its systems to monitor inventory levels and optimal shipping times. Intel does what it does best: manufacturing top-of-the-line microchips.

* The Internet business-to-business (B2B) industry has spawned numerous strategic alliances among vendors, distributors and suppliers. They use the Internet to aggregate goods and lower costs. Primary industries such as chemicals, plastics and steel have joined together, providing excellent purchasing opportunities for manufacturing companies that source these materials.

* Computer industry companies have successfully partnered to amass sales. Dell, for example, offers a variety of computer software and accessories in addition to its traditional computer hardware line. Here it has collaborated with related companies that provide complementary products to provide one-stop shopping to its constituency.

Look for customer time-savers

Banks can benefit from the same concept. A number of banks have branches inside supermarkets, providing convenience to customers who need to...