Category: Consulting

Strategic partnerships or alliances act as accelerators for commercial success, offering unique advantages in various typical areas depending on the industry. In technology, part­nerships often center on driving innovation, en­abling integration, or expanding market access. In retail, the focus tends to revolve around enhancing customer-centric solutions. Manufacturing partner­ships prioritize optimizing operations, streamlining supply chains, and improving processes. For the pharmaceutical sector, collaborations are indis­pensable for fostering innovation and advancing re­search.

Strategic partnerships are not just theoretical constructs — they are real-world tools that companies leverage to achieve tangible results. Here’s how industries like tech, pharmaceuticals, and FMCG are using alliances to innovate, streamline operations, and create value.

Tech

In the tech sector, strategic partnerships often bridge the gap between innovation and scale, enabling startups to access critical resources and established players to adopt transformative technologies. Here are some examples of how partnerships drive mutual growth and industry evolution:

Miele and FixFirst: Extending Appliance Lifespans Through AI

In 2021, in a bid to promote a circular economy, Miele partnered with FixFirst, a startup specializing in AI-powered repair solutions. FixFirst’s software enables instant error analysis and connects users with repair services, offering an alternative to appliance replacements. For Miele, this collaboration reduces waste and enhances customer satisfaction, while FixFirst gains an opportunity to validate its technology in a real-world setting and expand its reach.

Deutsche Telekom and Sensolus: Optimizing Asset Tracking with IoT

In 2022, Deutsche Telekom teamed up with Sensolus, a Belgian scale-up specializing in IoT solutions. Together, they offer advanced asset tracking and management services for industries like logistics and transportation. This partnership allows Deutsche Telekom to strengthen its IoT portfolio and attract customers seeking innovative operational solutions. At the same time, Sensolus benefits from Deutsche Telekom’s extensive network and customer base, facilitating its entry into the German market.

Airbus and Avolon: Pioneering Hydrogen-Powered Aviation

In 2024, Airbus partnered with Avolon to explore the future of hydrogen-powered aviation. This collaboration focuses on preparing the ecosystem for hydrogen production and supply, while also addres­sing how such aircraft could be financed and commer­cialized. Airbus aims to shape the next generation of sustainable aviation techno­logy, while Avolon investi­gates how hydrogen aircraft fit into leasing business models and prepares for potential fleet trans­forma­tions. These examples underscore the power of collaboration in the tech sector, where startups and established players together drive innovation, scale operations, and address challenges like sustainability, operational efficiency, and future market shifts.

Pharma

Pharmaceutical companies increasingly engage in strategic partnerships to access external innovations, thereby accelerating drug development and enhancing their therapeutic portfolios. Here are four recent collaborations that highlight the industry’s reliance on alliances to deliver value:

Sanofi leveraging Owkin’s AI capabilities to advance oncology treatments

In 2021, Sanofi invested $180 million in Owkin, a French AI startup, to leverage artificial intelligence for advancing oncology treatments. This alliance focuses on identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets, aiming to enhance precision medicine in cancer care.

Amgen partnering with Arrakis Therapeutics to pursue innovative approaches in drug discovery

In 2022, Amgen entered a collaboration with Arrakis Therapeutics to develop small-molecule drugs targeting RNA, expanding therapeutic possibilities beyond traditional protein targets. This partnership exemplifies the pursuit of innovative approaches in drug discovery.

Pfizer and Tempus collaborating to integrate AI technology into the R&D process

In 2023, Pfizer partnered with Tempus, an AI and precision medicine provider, to advance oncology drug development. By integrating AI and machine learning into its R&D process, this collaboration aims to reduce the time-to-market for oncology drugs while improving treatment pathways and enabling more precise targeting of therapies to the right patients.

BioNTech acquiring Biotheus to integrate external innovation into its development process

In 2024, BioNTech acquired Chinese biotech com­pany Biotheus for nearly $1 billion, aiming to strengthen its oncology pipeline with advanced immunotherapy drugs. This acquisition not only strengthens BioNTech’s pipeline but also exemplifies how strategic acquisitions can bridge gaps in in-house capabilities.

These collaborations highlight the pharmaceutical industry’s recognition that partnering with external innovators is crucial for accessing cutting-edge technologies and expediting the delivery of novel therapies to patients.

FMCG

Strategic partnerships are key to fostering innovation and expanding market reach in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. Companies use these alliances to access new technologies, enter diverse markets, and deliver inno­vative products to consumers.

Examples of Consumer-Centric Partnerships:

• From 2025 onwards, Nestlé and Damm collaborate to produce and distribute Nestea in Spain, ensuring the brand’s continued presence in the market after Nestlé’s agreement with Coca-Cola ends by year-end 2024.
• In 2024, Oreo and Coca-Cola teamed up to create limited-time products like Coca-Cola Oreo Zero Sugar soda and Oreo Coca-Cola cookies, offering consumers unique flavor experiences.
• Adidas has engaged in several strategic partnerships in China to strengthen its market presence and align with local cultural and sports initiatives.
  • In 2022, Adidas partnered with the China Literature and Art Foundation to promote Chinese culture and sports, incorporating Chinese cultural elements into Adidas products and marketing campaigns to enhance the brand’s resonance with local consumers.
  • In 2024, during Shanghai’s International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council, Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden proposed forming a global sports technology innovation alliance, underscoring Adidas’s commitment to supporting Shanghai as an international sports hub.

Beyond Market Reach: Sustainability and Innovation

FMCG partnerships often address challenges beyond market access. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) exemplifies this with its commitment to advance its sustainability goals and operational efficiency through engineering-focused collabora­tions:

• CuRe Technology: CCEP Ventures invested in this recycling start-up specializing in ‘polyester rejuvenation.’ This technology transforms hard-to-recycle polyester waste into high-quality recycled PET (rPET) for bottle production. CCEP’s initial funding in 2020 supported R&D and pilot plant development, with a subsequent investment in 2023 aimed at commercial scaling by 2025.
• Carbon Capture Research: CCEP partnered with European universities to accelerate research into carbon capture technologies, aiming to convert CO₂ into useful products for the supply chain, such as packaging materials and synthetic fuels. These innovations align with CCEP’s net-zero ambitions.

These collaborations highlight how FMCG compa­nies leverage strategic partnerships — not only to address sustainability and operational challenges, as seen with CCEP, but also to enter diverse markets and deliver innovative products to consumers.

The Building Blocks of Successful Partnerships

Building successful alliances or partnerships requires a strategic approach. Start by identifying opportunities within your business landscape and securing buy-in from stakeholders. Then, move on to negotiating terms and planning for smooth implementation to ensure the partnership delivers its inten­ded value.

1. Align Opportunities with Objectives

The opportunities you explore must align with your organizational objectives. Gaining a clear understan­ding of the ecosystem will provide a well-rounded view of the strategic landscape, competitive dyna­mics, and potential areas for collaboration. Equally important is assessing the potential impact of a successful partnership in measurable terms. The greater the value both parties stand to gain, the more motivated they will be to overcome arising challenges and commit to the partnership’s success.

2. Engage with the Right Partners

When pursuing a new strategic relationship, make sure you are engaging with the right people at the right organizations. Are your target organizations aligned with your strategic goals, or are they simply convenient but unlikely to drive meaningful out­comes? Are you connecting with decision-makers, or are your conversations limited to friendly but non-influential contacts who can’t drive progress?

3. Negotiate and Formalize Agreements

In negotiating agreements, begin by focusing on the overarching goals of the collaboration. Once those are established, define the specific commitments of each party, address potential risks, and incorporate steps to manage them. Formalize the terms in a clear, jargon-free Letter of Intent to ensure mutual understanding. This step not only provides clarity for both parties, but also streamlines the legal drafting process, making it easier to finalize the agreement, reducing the risk of ambiguity or misalignment.

4. Leverage Expertise

Professionals such as lawyers, financial advisors, and consultants often play critical roles in exploring, scoping, and formalizing partnerships. For tech startups and other businesses new to complex deal-making landscapes, this expertise can be invaluable. As negotiation specialists with deep industry insight, we help companies navigate these complexities and guide them through less familiar territory than the environment they have been operating in so far.

5. Define Shared Goals and Vision

A vision represents the desired future state—what success looks like. A strategy, on the other hand, outlines the path to achieving it. Strategic partner­ships can accel­erate this journey, offering shortcuts to realize the vision. For instance, if your vision involves entering new markets, identify the players al­ready estab­lished there and pinpoint the knowledge, technology, or rela­tion­ships needed to navigate that eco­system effec­tively.

6. Address Challenges Before Closing the Deal

Before finalizing a deal, consider the implications of its implementation. For example, shifts in power dynamics may leave some stakeholders feeling ex­posed to new structures. Differences in organi­za­tional cultures, such as one partner’s focus on rapid inno­vation versus another’s slower implementation capabilities, can also present challenges. Additionally, some stakeholders may veto the deal entirely. Build­ing support early and continuously monitoring the stakeholder landscape is essential as the part­ner­ship evolves.

7. Lay the Groundwork for Implementation

Successful partnerships depend on a smooth transi­tion to operational roles. Engage early with collea­gues responsible for imple­mentation to ensure they are prepared and aligned with the partnership’s goals. While executing the deal structure is critical, it’s equally important to keep long-term objectives in mind. Building an enduring partnership requires steady inspiration, consistent engagement, and nur­turing to create a strong foundation for the initiative to succeed in the long run.

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