Your Partnership Looks Pretty. It's also useless
Collaborative marketing isn’t just another buzzword; it’s becoming a survival play.
But most brands still treat it like brunch: lookin’ good in pictures, no substance.
Sponsorships fall into the same trap. Although they’re called “partnerships,” they're just paid appearances unless they fuse ideas, tools, and purpose.
Everyone wants to “partner,” “co-create,” “share audiences,” “be a partner.” The problem?
Most of it is nothing more than Logo Slapping:
The lazy art of pasting your brand on someone else’s product, space, or platform and calling it a “strategic alliance " is cosmetic and hollow. It’s the ego dressed up as cooperation.
The real thing? That’s rarer and far more powerful.
Proper collaborative marketing is a fusion.
Data with data, brains with brains, tools with tools, insights with insights. Until the mix is so combustible that 1+1 equals 3 (or 4, or 10).
It’s the alchemy where both sides become more than they could ever be alone. And it’s the only kind worth doing.
The Gold Standard: When 1+1 Really = 3
Look outside our industry, and you’ll see collaborations like GoPro + Red Bull. They didn’t just cross-promote. They fused: adrenaline, brand narratives, content, distribution, and fan communities. Each one made the other more relevant, more magnetic, more valuable.
That’s the bar. That’s the difference between genuine collaboration and coexisting in a marketing selfie. If your “partnership” looks like two logos sitting politely beside each other, congratulations! You’ve mastered Logo Slapping.
When Collaboration Fails
Harvard Business Review has a term for it: collaboration drag.
In their study, 78% of leaders admitted that cross-functional partnerships slowed them down. Why?
Endless meetings, unclear decisions, and vague “shared goals” that nobody shares. In marketing terms, it’s two brands putting time and money into something neither audience cares about.
The result: watered-down campaigns, empty vanity metrics, and the slow death of enthusiasm. It’s not just a waste; it actively erodes brand equity.
When Collaboration Wins
Done right, it’s not just about reach, it’s about depth.
We try to do it at Oddsgate, and the proof is in the pudding:
The #GateTo2050
We wanted to look forward, way forward, and ask the hard questions about the iGaming industry’s future. But instead of doing it in an echo chamber, we went wide:
We listened to a chorus of voices inside the sector.
We collaborated with thinkers and experts outside our bubble.
We hired a specialist agency to lead us through the chaos and challenge our assumptions.
The result wasn’t just a report. It was a living conversation, one we couldn’t have created alone. It worked because it was built on fusion, not stickers.
The Revpanda Takeover
For SBC Lisbon, we’ve invited Revpanda to bring their content machine and podcast operation into our booth. Why? Not just because they love cameras (and they love cameras), but because their interview style and audience chemistry perfectly complement the kind of conversations we want happening around Oddsgate.
They’ll run the interviews, but the magic is in the overlap. Our audiences will meet theirs, our brand will live in their world, and we’ll emerge with richer connections and sharper visibility.
Why Ego-Centric Kills Collaboration
The fastest way to ruin any partnership is to make it all about you. Treat your collaborator as a junior partner, a media channel, or, worse, a free resource.
Ego-centric collaboration is a one-night stand dressed as a relationship: it leaves one side feeling used and the other feeling smug.
Both lose in the long run.
Eco-centric collaboration flips the script.
The ecosystem matters more than individual glory. The shared creation is the hero, not either logo. That’s where the trust builds, the creativity multiplies, and the audience leans in.
Three Tests Before You “Collaborate”
Before you slap your logo on someone else’s asset and post the LinkedIn announcement, ask:
Are we fusing capabilities or just sharing space?
Will this create something neither of us could make alone?
Does the audience win as much as we do?
If the answer is no to any of these, you’re not collaborating, you’re Logo Slapping.
The Call to Action
To the operators, marketers, and executives: wake up!
If your “partnership” is just a polite exchange of logos, you’re burning time, money, and credibility.
Ask yourself (and your partners) this:
Is our collaboration ego-centric or eco-centric?
Because only one of those will matter.
And it’s the one where 1+1 equals something much bigger.
