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My vote for a business word we’ll hear a lot in 2008? “Frenemies.” Attributed most recently to Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and CEO of WPP, the word “frenemies” (a blend of “friends” + “enemies”) perfectly captures the competitive collaboration that will increasingly define the way marketers and businesses work.
The word is starting to enter the business lexicon. Polly LaBarre and Bill Taylor, coauthors of Mavericks at Work, speak and write about frenemies and the synonym “froes” (friends + foes). See, in particular, Bill Taylor’s post at Harvard Business Online: The New Language of Competition: Are You Friend or Froe?
Frenemy: “A partner who is simultaneously a competitor”
The word "frenemy" is a wonderful mashup: easy to say and accurate in its depiction of the sometimes uncomfortable ambiguity that exists in many business relationships.
Who among us hasn’t been in a meeting when someone exclaims, “What? We have to work with them? They’re a competitor!”
Your response to such an outburst? “Get over it. They’re just a frenemy.” Then point your baffled colleagues to the Wikipedia definition: “a partner who is simultaneously a competitor.”
In the business world, I believe frenemies will increasingly describe firms who collaborate because clients have asked them to. While there may be initial discomfort and turf wars, in the end, the faster these new frenemies can focus on the "friends" aspect of the relationship, the more successful they’ll be.
Examples of frenemies: Multiple agencies working for one client
Firms become frenemies when their expertise overlaps. For example, a client might assign the interactive portion of a marketing campaign to one agency and the print portion to another. Because both agencies could handle the entire span of work, they would collaborate on behalf of their common client — as frenemies.
In another example, a client might turn to multiple agencies to handle a large interactive project, dividing up the work by, say, information architecture, design, and writing. In this example, every agency gets a piece of the work, but several of the agencies could complete the entire project. So, they work — politely and competently — as frenemies.
Here are two specific examples of frenemies:
- Target asks its broadcast, interactive, and promotional agencies to collaborate on major campaigns. The agencies are competitors, but they work together as frenemies for a common client — and the results are both innovative and cohesive across media channels.
- kajeet, the pay-as-you-go cell phone service for kids, asks its branding, advertising, interactive, and packaging agencies to collaborate on the launch of its product. The agencies might view each other as competitors because of overlapping areas of expertise, but they produce great creative nonetheless, working side-by-side as frenemies
Do you have examples of frenemies? Please share.
Managing frenemies
Strong agencies or those with a well-defined or specialized competitive advantages won’t shy away from working with frenemies. Still, rivalries exist when frenemies collaborate. Here are some quick recommendations to smooth away tension:
- Set collaboration (not competition) as the expectation for all frenemies.
- Assign responsibility for the overarching creative concept — the “big idea” — to one agency. But give all agencies the freedom to determine how that big idea should best come to life for their portion of the project.
- Clarify roles. All frenemies need to know exactly what’s expected of them, and what is someone else’s job.
- Communicate incessantly. When multiple agencies are all driving to a deadline, it’s imperative to keep everyone informed.
- Provide strong, focused creative direction. Always important, but even more so when you’ve asked frenemies to work together.
Are you working with “frenemies”?
Sometimes labelling a tricky situation helps us deal with it. Now that there's a specific term for competitor-partner relationships, I venture more firms will discuss their frenemy status more willingly.
For me, the only problem with the word is a touch of negativity. "Enemy" is a bit strong, a bit militaristic.
Do you think “frenemies” is an accurate description of how some firms view each other?
Is your firm someone's frenemy?
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Comments
Frenemies sounds a lot like "Coopetition" circa 1996.
("Coopetition" is the combo of cooperation and competition.)
Posted by: johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) | 01.02.08
For cooperative competition to succeed, a really strong project manager on the client side will need to "herd the cats". Someone, probably executive sponsor, needs to own the ultimate accountability for driving results.
Posted by: Paul Barsch | 01.02.08
The term/philosophy of co-opertition is used widely in the agency world in my experience - Publicis and Interpublic to name two.
Posted by: Richard Moss | 01.02.08
John,
You're right. The neologisms are very simiar. Thanks for pointing out the deja vu aspect of "frenemies."
And for readers, here's an excerpt from a long-ago IBM article about "coopetition" titled "Strategic Co-opetition":
"The traditional concept of business as a 'winner takes all' contest is giving way to a realisation that in the networked economy, companies must both co-operate and compete. Termed "co-opetition," this new perspective requires companies to create business strategies that capitalise on relationships in order to create maximum value in the marketplace."
Found via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coopetition
Posted by: Gwyneth Dwyer | 01.02.08
@ Paul
Yes, indeed. And that strong project manager must also ensure that the cats you mention are not snarling and hissing at one another.
@ Richard
“Frenemies” must embrace “coopetition” to succeed.
(Aren’t these neologisms impossible to spell?)
I’ll admit it: I just learned of the term "coopetition." A thank you to the smart readers here on the Daily Fix.
Posted by: Gwyneth Dwyer | 01.02.08
As from my experience, you need a certain type of people on both side: the "knowledge-sharing" type.
I've been working in several such projects and the result was much worst when we had people with "this is my knowledge, I don't give it for free" behavior in the team. I would add this to the above "smooth away tension" list. :-)
Nice that you didn't choose some "www"ord. :-)))
Posted by: Dusan Vrban | 01.03.08
@ Dusan
Great addition to the list. If “frenemies” can move beyond the competitive aspect of their relationship and focus on collaboration — leapfrogging off each other’s ideas — the ideas will be much more innovative. And, in the end, everyone will benefit, particularly the client.
It’s all about the democracy of ideas.
Posted by: Gwyneth Dwyer | 01.03.08
The idea of co-opetition has been around for a long while now, but it has become even more important in a Web 2.0 and mashup world. (See my post on the subject: http://businessmashup.blogspot.com/2008/01/mashup-vendors-need-to-work-with-our.html) When mashers pull content from multiple sources into a unified experience, the vendors had better work together or simply be left behind.
Regards,
Kelly A. Shaw, Ph.D.
Analyst
Serena Software
Posted by: Kelly A. Shaw | 01.04.08
I think frenemies is an accurate term for client-serve agencies and firms who put "the big idea" first and the splitting of the pot second.
I envision a future where the term also applies to our clients - for example, Big Pharma competitors as well as Managed Care Organizations collaborating on a common goal (e.g., better compliance, better health outcomes) and work together as frenemies. Do you think this concept can apply to other industries as well?
Posted by: AnnaMaria Turano | 01.07.08
@ Kelly
Thanks for the link. Your blog on business mashups http://businessmashup.blogspot.com/ is lively and informative, a great read.
You offer a very different angle on “fremenies” than the one I discuss, underscoring the reach of the word and its application across a wide range of business challenges that demand collaboration, not competition.
@AnnaMaria
Yes, I think the concept of “frenemies” can apply to clients, too. And I like your healthcare example. The term is business neutral, describing any number of firms in any industry — working together to solve a business challenge. Perhaps there’s a relationship here: The larger the business challenge, the more likely it is that “frenemies” will be working in tandem to solve it.
Posted by: Gwyneth Dwyer | 01.08.08
Guys, please - these terms are Blends or Portmanteaux words - being a mixture of two existing words. Knowledge and correct use of words is a powerful marketing tool and sets apart those who know and can use language, from those who do not and cannot be bothered.
Posted by: Harry | 01.09.08
Thanks for your comment, Harry. Yes, each word is a portmanteau. I purposely avoided that term, opting for the more familiar “blend.”
Actually — a bit of nit — they’re not portmanteaux words, they’re portmanteaux or portmanteaus. The word “portmanteau” includes the word “word.” ; )
I don’t think those who are commenting are discussing the provenance of the words. We are discussing examples of “frenemies” and managing “frenemies.”
Have you heard the word?
Posted by: Gwyneth Dwyer | 01.09.08
Well no not really - portmanteau or portmanteau word - either is acceptable. Literally means 'wearing a cloak'.
Posted by: Harry Hall | 01.10.08