You’ve likely heard some variation of this quote a few times, but it’s worth repeating:

“For partnerships to be truly successful, both partners need to see clear value.”

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been on both sides of the equation. Some partnerships have leaned in your favor but didn’t last because the imbalance left your partner wanting. Other partnerships left you empty handed and disinterested in anything long-term for the same reason.

But every once in a while you see one that just…well…makes sense.

And even from our detail-deprived, one-step-removed perspective, you can see that both partners are setup to succeed.

Beautiful Example
Between their savvy marketing and constant innovation, OpenSnow and The Mountain Collective have long been two of my favorite brands.

Now, they’ve partnered up for one of the simplest, most clever promotions I’ve seen all year.

This is a really interesting time of year. Snow is in the forecast a bit more regularly, interest in skiing has moved past the fringe and entered the majority of skiers’ psyche, and passes are beginning their final push for the season.

So when you consider the benefits for both parties…

OpenSnow gets trial of their best features right when those features would be most valuable and some extra ad revenue to boot.

The Mountain Collective gets awareness and positive brand association with skiers full of anticipation of the upcoming winter.

…you realize that this is a really, really good partnership that truly benefits both parties.

In Plain Sight
The crazy thing about this partnership is that I’ve visited both sites hundreds of times, I’ve been a paying All-Access OpenSnow user for years, and I’ve written about TMC probably a dozen times, but I never saw this opportunity.

It, like so many of the best collaborations, were hidden in plain sight.

Props to both companies for seeing the idea and for the simple execution that made it happen. Well played.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.