We Are Mixing Pizza and Self Driving Vehicles with the 9P’s of Marketing.

Most of the time marketers can’t create customer value and build customer relationships by themselves. They need to work closely with partners and alliances outside the firm, as well as with different  departments within their own company (which we call inside partners).

One of the most important of the nine P’s of Marketing created by Londre, one of the 2 Guyz on Marketing, is Partners or Alliances.

For our post, we found a doozy of an example. What combines Amazon, Toyota, Pizza Hut, Mazda and Didi, together?

Announced today at CES in Las Vegas, Toyota introduced its e-Palette, a self-driving concept vehicle with partner Pizza Hut. A self driving vehicle delivering pizzas.

Simply a strategic partnership and a vehicle to deliver pizza.

Pizza Hut is also part of another alliance (mobility services business alliance) that includes Amazon, Mazda, Uber and Didi (Uber’s Chinese rival).

From Artie Starrs, USA Pizza Hut president,  “… to own and define the modern pizza experience, we (at Pizza Hut) are focused on technology-based solutions that enable our team members and drivers to deliver even better customer experiences.. With Toyota, we are partnering with an undisputed leader in human mobility with a reputation for innovation, reliability and efficiency, as we define the pizza delivery experience of the future.”

The 2 Guyz teach about joint partnerships, which are joint relationships. That relationship existing between two parties: it a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specific and joint rights and responsibilities as a common enterprise.

Some lessons to learn from:

  • Ensure that there is excellent planned and natural alignment of internal and external agencies/partnerships/alliances around common goals and purposes. They should be moving toward shared goals or goals.
  • Continuous support and cooperation with consultation are usually needed.
  • Roles and responsibilities must be clearly communicated, understood and agreed upon.
  • Partnership and cooperative agreements are formed that enable parties to bring their major strengths to the table and emerge with better planning, products, services, promotion, presentation, distribution and ideas than they could produce on their own.

2 Guyz Brian adds that partnerships require constant communication, trust, and lots of shared effort. In addition to planning for all the good (profits, asset accumulation, etc.), partnerships need to be very clear about planning for the bad. Sooner or later, partnerships will end. Partners and alliances need to be clean how that will work, as well,

Changes are always occurring in how marketers connect with their customers, suppliers, channel partners and others. Partnerships have always been important, but never more than in today’s fast-paced, global business environment.