The age of the one-night stand is over. You don't have to be a particularly acute observer of social mores to recognize that our attitudes toward relationships have changed drastically in the past couple of decades. By and large, the brief encounter has passed out of vogue. These days, it seems, everyone is looking for long-term commitment.

And so it is in the promotions business.

Ask marketers about promotional partnerships between brands, and you'll hear a remarkable consistency in their responses. Once upon a time, they'll say, you tended to see a lot more one-off exercises: two brands come together for a quick-hit tactical promotion designed to boost their respective sales figures, bang, and it's over.

Today, however, more and more organizations are thinking strategically when they seek out partners for promotional ventures. They want to build solidly grounded relationships with like-minded brands - relationships with long-term potential. In short, they want to get married.

"Partnership is marriage," affirms David Kincaid, vice-president of marketing for Labatt Breweries of Canada, whose current promotional partners include Air Canada and Famous Players. "It's something you have to invest time and effort in."

Marty Goldberg, general manager of Toronto-based promotional agency GeneratorIdeaWorks, echoes this view.

"When you're searching for partners," he says, "it's important to start out by making sure that you have common interests and common ground. You're looking for a strategic marketing alliance - a win-win promotional partnership where both partners gain some benefits."

This new sophistication of approach is not altogether surprising, given the steadily increasing prevalence of partnership ventures in the promotional field.

"It's definitely a growth area," says Peter Osicka, president and creative director of Mississauga, Ont.-based Opticom Promotion Group. "When a client tells us they need to do something promotional in the third quarter, one of the first things we'll look into is whether there's another strategically well-placed brand that we could match together with them."

So what's driving this growth? Economics, for a start. The tighter the purse strings within an organization, the more it makes sense to find allies who can share the cost of promotional ventures.

"Marketing budgets are diminishing," says Kevin Astle, president of the Association of Promotion Marketing Agencies Worldwide. "Often, they don't really cover costs. So you have to find new and more cost-effective ways of achieving objectives."

Alain Gignac, vice-president and general manager of Blitz, the sales promotion, direct and database marketing arm of Cossette Communication-Marketing in Montreal, agrees.

"Given the cost of doing marketing, [partnership] is most definitely becoming bigger," he says. "It's not just a trend - it's becoming good business practice."

Pure dollars and cents considerations, however, are only part of the reason for this proliferation of partnerships. In a crowded marketplace, Peter Osicka says, it's becoming harder than ever for brands to build profile, and marketers are now quick to seize any opportunity that presents itself.

"We've got a number of clients telling us they want some innovative way to bring their brands into the forefront for consumers," he says. "Something out of the ordinary."

Promotional partnerships answer this need in a number of ways. They can, for a start, give both of the participating partners access to some new customers. They can also generate a bit of news within a category, encouraging consumer trial. And they can offer brands exposure in new channels of distribution.

Last year, for example, Opticom brought Cadbury Beverages Canada together with Twentieth Century Fox Films of Canada on a sweepstakes promotion that tied the Canada Dry and C Plus brands to the video release of the animated film Anastasia. (The General Mills Canada snack brand Bugles was also involved.) Both of the major players in this program gained added exposure in what were, for them, non-traditional channels: grocery stores for Fox, video outlets and mass merchandisers for Cadbury.

Equally important, in many instances, is the opportunity for a brand to change the way consumers think about it, by borrowing imagery from another.

That, says Marty Goldberg, was certainly one of the considerations for Natrel, when the dairy producer decided to partner with Sony Computer Entertainment America (Canada) on a promotional program developed by GeneratorIdeaWorks. The instant-win promotion, which kicks off in June, gives teens the opportunity to win a Sony PlayStation system when they purchase an Oh Henry! or Hershey milkshake.

For Natrel, Goldberg says, it means a chance to have some of Sony's hip imagery rub off on these milkshake brands, lending them greater relevance to the target. Sony, in return, gains added exposure against the audience that it's pursuing.

"Who you're partnered with can say something very distinct about your own brand," says Rick Shaver, group account director with Toronto-based Encore Encore Strategic Marketing.

A textbook example, Shaver says, is the two-year-old partnership between Miller Genuine Draft and Harley-Davidson. This marriage of brands, which began with Miller's sponsorship of a barbecue at the Harley-Davidson 95th anniversary reunion in Milwaukee, Wis., has led to a series of promotional efforts in the U.S., Canada and close to 20 other countries around the world. And it has made a major contribution to the revitalization of the Miller Genuine Draft brand.

"They were at the stage of repositioning themselves strategically in the marketplace, as a little more youthful, a little more urban, free-spirited and rebellious," he says. "And what better associate brand icon could you use to provide evidence of that than Harley-Davidson?"

So what are some of the guidelines to follow when developing promotional partnerships?

For a start, you need to be sure that the time is right for your brand. As a rule, Kevin Astle says, it's not a good idea for a brand that's in its infancy - or in the midst of a repositioning - to share the limelight with another. The weaker a brand's identity, the greater the risk that it may be overshadowed by a partner.

The best strategic partnerships, it's generally agreed, involve brands that share common objectives against a common target.

That, however, doesn't mean that the products in question have to be wholly complementary.

Sometimes, in fact, the pairing of two products that don't - on the surface, anyway - seem to be a natural fit can actually heighten consumer attention and interest.

According to Goldberg, for example, one of the most successful promotional partnerships ever brokered by GeneratorIdeaWorks involved placing Apple PowerBooks in the lobbies of Canadian Pacific hotels across the country.

"People kind of expect to see Kleenex partnered with NyQuil on a cough/cold promotion," he says. "But they don't necessarily expect to see Apple PowerBook hooked up with CP Hotels. It's the sort of thing that can make consumers say, 'Hey, that's cool. I didn't think about that. I never thought those two brands belonged together - but now that I see it, it makes a lot of sense.'"

Of course, no matter who the partner in question happens to be, it's important not to enter into the relationship lightly. Goldberg, for one, recommends doing as much research as possible before tying the knot.

"You don't want to get into bed with the wrong partner," he says. "The worst thing that can happen is to wake up one morning, look at your spouse and go, 'Oh my God, this is what I got married to?' If you don't do your homework at the front end, you can sometimes get screwed at the back end."

David Kincaid of Labatt is another big believer in homework. Any prospective partner, he says, must meet several criteria before the brewery will consider entering into any kind of long-term promotional partnership. Is it a growth company with a strong vision? Is there compatibility between its brands and Labatt's? And, most important, is there good chemistry?

One company that has managed to meet all the criteria is the cinema chain Famous Players. The two recently established a three-year agreement, and in February embarked on their first joint promotional program, offering consumers of Blue Light the chance to win a number of movie-related prizes, including a full-year movie pass and vouchers for free popcorn at Famous Players theatres.

Stuart Pollock, vice-president of marketing for Famous Players, says the partnership is built on a solid foundation because both companies - although they market very different products - are essentially like-minded.

"There are a lot of companies out there just looking for quick-hit opportunities," he says. "We don't want that. We want to work with companies that have long-term goals."

Many factors, clearly, can contribute to the success or failure of promotional partnerships. But in the end, Pollock says, a lot comes down to the individuals involved on both sides.

"The company or the brand you're dealing with isn't as important as the person you're dealing with," he contends. "It's important to understand each other. You can write a great contract - but really, for us it's the people behind the contract. It's knowing they have the same long-term mentality we do. That's what we look for."

Also in this report:

- Pepsi tunes in with Taste Tour '99: Promo tied in with 30-gig concert series p.B9

- Teletoon promo the cat's meow p.B10