The Power of Brand Partnerships – And the Secrets to Making Them Work for Your Business

Experiences have become a cornerstone of marketing strategy for major brands, serving as memorable touchpoints that foster deeper emotional connections with customers.  

According to a recent report, events and experiences are projected to see the highest growth in marketing spend for UK companies in 2025. 

At American Express, we don’t see ourselves as just a payments business – we are an experience brand and are committed to powerfully backing our cardmembers by helping them get more out of the things they love.

At Amex, our sponsorship programmes play a pivotal role in helping us connect with our cardmembers and prospective cardmembers in the moments that matter to them most. For example, within sports and entertainment, we demonstrate our backing by providing our customers with access to the best tickets at the events they are most passionate about and provide incredible benefits and experiences to fans on-site and online. 

Our partnerships span music, sport, entertainment, travel and dining, which means we can offer our cardmembers unparalleled access and experiences across a huge variety of iconic events – from American Express presents BST Hyde Park, to Premier League team Brighton & Hove Albion FC, plus London Restaurant Festival, the Wimbledon Championships, and more. These collaborations allow us to enhance the fan experience for our customers, thanks to their cardmembership with Amex, and we’ve seen how impactful that can be in driving brand success. 

And we couldn’t be more excited about our newest partnership, which reflects one of the biggest and fastest growing passion areas for our cardmembers. In October, American Express announced a multi-year global sponsorship with Formula 1. This partnership will provide cardmembers with exclusive benefits like presale tickets, Paddock Club hospitality access, and unique fan experiences at F1 Grand Prix events worldwide – both at track and online to make their race day that much better. 

Whether it’s F1 or the Wimbledon Championships, our strategy is the same – we strive to deliver carefully crafted experiences and perks that consistently elevate the fan experience and deliver impactful engagement among both current and prospective customers. The potential of partnerships is enormous; however, success requires constant innovation, strong communication, and shared values. Here are three key factors for brands looking to optimise their partnerships: 

Understanding your audience is crucial and it’s essential we ensure our partnerships resonate deeply with our customers and prospective customers. For instance, our F1 partnership aligns perfectly with the sport’s growing popularity, especially among millennials and gen z – our fastest-growing customer segments. With more than 300 million F1 fans globally, young women represent the sport’s fastest-growing demographic, making this collaboration a great example of how we can scale our reach and impact, as well as cement Amex in culture.

Partnerships should highlight brand values and provide genuine value to customers. While our aim is always to maximise awareness of our offering, our executions with partners need to be more engaging than just a sales pitch or a logo in a prominent spot. They require unique, authentic and impactful activations that leave a lasting impression to be successful – grounded in how fans engage with the property.

Our Wimbledon partnership exemplifies this. Last year, we created activations that engaged tennis fans throughout their fan journey – from exclusive ticket access to unique experiences at and beyond the famous SW19 grounds. For those attending, we again featured our Amex Experience in the Southern Village, open to all fans and full of fun tennis experiences, as well as the Cardmember Lounge, an exclusive venue for our customers and their guests to relax and recharge, and my own favourite summer happy place. We also delivered complimentary Amex Radios for fans across the fortnight. For the first time in 2024 though, we launched the Amex Pavilion, featuring interactive games for all fans and the best views on The Hill, as well as an integration with tennis simulation game Topspin 2k25 and the launch of the first ever Wimbledon eChamps for tennis fans and gamers around the world.  

Too often, partnerships falter due to a lack of shared ambition after agreements are signed. We are careful to work with partners who have shared values and who share our genuine commitment to make the fan experience better every day. The real work begins once the ink dries, making ongoing collaboration integral to long-term success.  True partnerships thrive on mutual commitment, effective communication and a relentless drive to improve. Acting as one team with our partners, with shared goals, ensures challenges are overcome and triumphs are celebrated. This culture of cooperation is essential to achieving extraordinary outcomes.

With events like Formula 1 and the Wimbledon Championships attracting millions of passionate fans, strategic partnerships offer immense opportunities for brands to connect with audiences in meaningful ways. Brands have the opportunity to unlock the full potential of these relationships and deliver unforgettable experiences to their customers by understanding their audience, choosing the right partners with shared values, fostering creativity and maintaining constant collaboration.