Partnerships between companies are one of the most used marketing levers, especially in the digital age. In a global market where competition is also based on the speed of positioning and developments driven by technological innovation, companies and brands resort to a strategic approach to consolidate their presence in the reference markets and make the most of every opportunity. Among the most widespread tools are partnerships, collaborations between two brands or, more generally, between two entities with different structures and targets.
These are collaboration agreements – for which we often speak of initiatives co-branding – which are successful because they combine strategic objectives and common promotional needs, while at the same time sharing resources and knowledge.
How a collaboration between companies works
In the scientific literature of the sector we often talk about strategic alliances, even if there is no univocal definition of the concept. A study published on September 19, 2025 in Plos One outlines strategic alliances as cooperative arrangements in which multiple companies share ownership rights and decision-making authority to achieve objectives, pooling resources and strengthening each other’s competitiveness, while maintaining both independent ownership and control over other assets.
As we read further in the paper, a growing number of companies are forming strategic alliances also to reduce production costs, achieve a greater degree of innovation and increase market shares. However, alliances also respond to other needs: exploiting new sales channels, reducing research and development costs (often through shared technological coordination) and improving competitiveness, both at a sectoral and global level.
In practical terms, as shown by the historical synergies between large brands in different sectors, a commercial partnership often revolves around a product or service capable of integrating well-recognizable prerogatives of the brands involved.
An exemplary case, often considered the gold standard of corporate collaborations, is the long-standing partnership between McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. Started in the mid-1950s, the synergy between the two giants has developed over time to become an inseparable duo. The reason? The economic, logistical and distribution advantages, and the possibility of exploiting such a consolidated partnership to sponsor large events and other marketing initiatives.
What are the advantages of a strategic alliance
When two companies engage in a promotional collaboration, they first of all develop a shared and integrated strategy. It means sharing knowledge and skills – the so-called know-how – with a direct impact on decision-making processes and the use of resources available to both. The partnership can thus become an opportunity for mutual growth in visibility, sector competitiveness, development, research and innovation. To these aspects are added others linked to market dynamics.
A factor that often favors collaborations between companies is the need, on the part of at least one of the actors involved, to quickly enter a specific segment, or to intercept the same target audience as the partner company. Sometimes the leverage is used in the opposite direction: you choose a commercial partner that allows you to consolidate your presence on the market and make it less accessible to third parties. This is basically what Coca-Cola did with McDonald’s, earning the role of exclusive supplier of a distribution chain that later expanded on a global scale.
More generally, regardless of the “size” of the companies involved, partnerships contribute to growth also because they allow you to add something that was previously missing. Or to bring together sectors perceived as very distant, but which find a point of contact in a new product, an integrated service or a series of shared values.
Not all strategic alliances work the same way, nor do they produce the same results. According to experts, a collaboration contributes to optimizing innovation and business performance only if the partners present functional diversity, both qualitative and quantitative. The market sector in which companies operate matters less: the success of a partnership, large or small, lies in the ability to leverage complementary skills and optimize heterogeneous resources.
Reset Energia and Empethy together for the Pawer Project
Partnerships are an area devoted to innovation and experimentation: there is no shortage of examples of at least unusual synergies, even if only for the fact of bringing together areas that, at least in appearance, have very little in common.
This is the case of the Pawer Project, recently launched by two emerging companies in their respective sectors, Reset Energia and Empethy. What makes this collaboration special is the background of the two partners.
The first is a company that distributes electricity to domestic residential customers. Thanks to an innovative approach, it immediately won the favor of users, as confirmed by the average score of the online reviews published on Trustpilot and other specialized portals. Reset offers a subscription supply service divided into consumption bands, each associated with an initial reference price. The commercial model is structured in such a way as to reward virtuous users, because the company encourages a more conscious and responsible approach to the use of energy at home.
Empethy, on the other hand, is a startup born in Naples in 2021 with the aim of promoting the responsible adoption of dogs and cats hosted in shelters and other similar realities. It works like an online showcase that collects thousands of animal advertisements. To date, the platform, sponsored by various animal rights associations, has over 9,000 active adverts and has contributed to the adoption of more than 11,000 four-legged friends. The result was made possible by the implementation of a matching system that allows users to filter ads by geographic area, breed, age and other characteristics of each individual pet, thanks to detailed information that also concerns the animal’s habits and background.
Although distant, both Reset and Empethy share the values of responsibility and transparency, expressed both in their respective primary activities and in the relationship with users. Adopting rather than buying is an act of responsibility as much as using electricity less and better in daily activities. In both cases, access to clear information is an essential requirement.
How the Pawer Project works
The initiative develops on several levels. Firstly, Reset Energia has allocated funds for the purchase of food supplies to be allocated to the structures that are part of the Empethy network, which has over 500 entities throughout Italy. In addition, the company website will host a virtual shelter, an online showcase with a direct link to the adoption platform, designed to increase the visibility of the adverts. Communication and promotion initiatives are also planned co-branding.
Reset will also offer further support through a reward mechanism: those registered on the platform who activate a supply contract will receive a fixed discount on their bills for 12 months. The amount of the discount, together with additional resources drawn from the budget for advertising activities, will be donated to three kennels, two in Naples and one in Piedmont.
