I am all for strategic alliances and other marketing/co-branding efforts, if everybody brings something to the party. Too often though, creative businesses sign up to "represent" or be a "preferred vendor" for a well known, large (maybe even huge) corporation without any real obligation on the part of the corporation to DO anything for the creative business. The creative business does it on the hope that just being associated with the corporation will bring legitimacy to the brand (and more business).
Never works. Why? There is no such thing as a free lunch — if your brand doesn't have a singular reputation and meaning on its own — no business association is going to magically make that happen for you. The likely result in such lopsided relationships is that you and your business will have to commit enormous resources (likely to the point of distraction) just to support the corporation and its brand. In the end, you will be invisible and your art will be wholly commoditized.
If you know the value of your brand and your art, you know you bring something that will help the corporation achieve a goal it has set for its brand. And, even if this is true, you still need real compensation — whether it is in the form of financial guarantees, PR/Marketing/Advertising commitment or both. Without risk, the corporation will literally not be invested in your success and it will be all too easy for them to ignore the Dip that is inevitable in any business relationship.
I know how enticing and even sexy it is to be courted by a corporate partner. The fantasy of what it could all mean for you and your business is intoxicating. Some of you in this position might feel that if you turn down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it will never come again. You are wrong. If you continue to do what you do, your brand will only get stronger and your value to the corporation, everything being equal, will only continue to grow. From there, you will be able to make the deal that helps everybody.
