Deemed 'an invaluable tool' by the group, co-branding and affinity partnerships are at the heart of its business development strategy as general insurance, life insurance, mortgage and loans sales have significantly increased over 2007 to date, thanks to alliances with third-party companies.
The majority of these tie-ins are co-branded or white-labeling agreements between the City-based financial services company and partner organisations.
Over recent months, key partnership deals have included the likes of secured loans agreement between Only Loans and leading IFA group Sycamore Financial, plus the general insurance agreement between Onlyinsurance.com and Interactive Investor.
“The symbiotic relationship between our business and a partner brand helps both parties to gain an additional share of the financial market - it’s an all win situation with the consumer getting a product vetted and promoted to them from a brand that they trust with brand values that they have already bought into,” said Ian Durrell, head of business development at the Only Group.
“Combining our functionality with the brand values and livery of a partner company brings in additional income and gives our white-label partners the opportunity to widen their product offering without having to invest in the otherwise necessary infrastructure,” he added.
The Only Group employs a careful partner selection process whereby the compatibility between the company’s own brand and a third-party brand is carefully assessed. Matching core values and well-suited consumer profiling are key factors to forecast a profitable union.
“Strong commercial relationships with our partners also play a crucial role in the success of the partnership and we have stringently drafted service level agreements to protect the partners’ brands,” added Durrell.
“By strategically positioning affinity and co-branding partnerships we are aiming to significantly increase insurance and other financial product sales. We expect to have major white label deals in place across all divisions of the Only Group in the coming months."
