Affinity marketing was pioneered in the UK in the early 1990’s by credit card companies who worked with charities, trade unions, professional organisations and football clubs (and are often referred to as ‘Affinity Groups’.)

These worked well because the customer could show their support for the Affinity Group, knowing that by simply using their credit card, their chosen organisation would benefit financially.  Affinity marketing is different in a number of ways to other forms of marketing. It is normally a co-branded, endorsed exercise, and allows access to the Affinity Group’s customer base and marketing channels (which may not ordinarily be available.)

These partnerships often work on a results driven basis, reducing financial risk for the product provider, and sharing revenue. In return, the promoting product/service provider’s offer is normally better than generally available, adding value to the Partner’s proposition. These are therefore genuine partnerships that see all parties working towards the same goals.

NOTE: Affinity Marketing is often confused with Affiliate Marketing. They are very different – affiliate marketing is simply an advertising model where a company pays compensation to third party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s product or services. Normally solely web based.

Although arguably very similar to affinity partnerships, brand partnerships have some subtle differences. Sometimes the arrangements are set so that marketing is reciprocal – in other words, both parties promote to

each others customers. Additionally, these are normally based on the synergy between the two organisations, rather than the strength of relationship with the customer.