So I’m standing there rinsing my hair in the shower after a long afternoon of holiday food and drink binging.  I’m relaxed.  I’m not at work.  In fact, I’m not even thinking about work. Instead, I’m casually reading the back of shampoo bottles and oversized containers of body wash. There are some rather entertaining dialogues between the reader and the product bottle these days. What the hell, I have a few minutes, I’m already here…let’s read all the bottles.

It then occurs to me that this is an opportune time to sell me something I’m NOT already using. 

Can you picture it? Starbucks teaming up with Pantene to write me a message about how fulfilling my post-shower ritual will be when followed by a steaming hot, flavorful cup of my favorite coffee.  Mmmmm…

What better time to communicate than during an already captive moment? Marketing communications are all about establishing a dialogue and motivating the recipient.  Consequently, when you’ve succeeded in snagging the audience’s attention (as with the bottles of shampoo and conditioner that have already been purchased), a creative communicator takes the opportunity to motivate that audience toward another layer. How is it that Sunkist doesn’t currently rent product placement space from the Crest folks? They’ve got at least 2-8 solid minutes of my full attention while I’m brushing, flossing and mouth-washing with nothing else to do but read what lies within my line of sight – and think about what I’m going to do next. Every single day.  They’ve already sold me on the toothpaste, take the ball and run with other products.

I know, I know…product placement is nothing new.  We’re sold suggestively at every turn.  But I’m talking about the communication partnership that occurs when someone else does the selling for you, like with a good networking partner (See point #6 Promoting Partners of The Six Commandments of Sock-Charming). After all, what comes around goes around.

Ultimately, partnership communications have become prime-time for the selling frontier.  It just makes marketing sense.

What small business promotion partnerships can you create by swapping communication space and letting someone else sell your stuff?