Types of
partnerships
There are generally three types of partnerships:
- Technology or development
- Promotion
- Sales channel
You may end up having partners in one, two or all three areas. And one partner may engage in more than one type of partnership. It’s whatever makes the most sense for your business. But it’s important to consider them separately because you might choose to emphasize one over the other.
Examples of technology partnerships
Technology partnerships are ubiquitous these days. It’s rather difficult to find examples of modern companies that don’t have technology partners. One example is the partnership between Nike and Apple.
When the companies initially came together, they worked to develop one of the first fitness wearables—Nike+. It was a true technology partnership in that Apple supplied the technology for the sensor that then slipped into the insole of Nike running shoes to track a user’s steps and pace. Their partnership continued even after the release of the Apple Watch and has evolved over the years. Today customers can buy the Nike+ Apple Watch that offers running-specific features and a Nike-inspired interface.
There are even more examples of technology partnerships on the B2B side, including Cisco and Oracle. Oracle has built a set of applications that run on top of Cisco UCS (unified communications system). Their development teams work together to make their APIs and SDKs seamless.
Examples of promotional partnerships
Promotional partnerships result when companies use their brand power to jointly promote and hopefully get a better result in the market. A B2C example of a promotional partnership is Doritos and Taco Bell. Around 2006, Taco Bell released the Doritos Loco Taco, which is a taco in a Doritos-flavored taco shell, and they put forth a huge promotional campaign around it, leveraging each company’s brand power.
You also see this on the B2B side, although it might not be quite as flashy. One example is Intel partnering with Red Hat, certifying that certain Red Hat operating systems would run on Intel chips. This partnership was about going to market with a joint promotional message that said, “Our products work well together. As a buyer, you can have confidence that these things are going to work together.” And this provides a lift to both Red Hat and Intel, and they can both sell more of their products and services as a result.
Examples of sales channel partnerships

In sales channel partnerships, one or both companies sell the other’s product. A B2C example of this is Pottery Barn and Sherwin-Williams. The companies worked together to develop a palette of paints that accentuate a line of Pottery Barn furniture—and the furniture retailer sells the exclusive colors on its website at a premium. This created an opportunity for Sherwin-Williams to access a whole new sales channel that it might not have otherwise reached. And Pottery Barn can now make an overall larger sale, so both companies benefit. They’re each getting access to something they wouldn’t have had on their own. And that’s what makes a really good sales channel partnership.
On the B2B side, we see these all the time as well, especially with large organizations like Cisco. This is essentially the value-added reseller, distributor or vendor model. Cisco has a massive partner program in which companies use a combination of Cisco products and their own to build a solution or customize a system for a particular set of customers. And oftentimes, as with Cisco’s partner program, the vendor is incentivized to sell its products with discounts and the like.