Free to be
Country : Germany
Year of establishment : 2008
Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando is Europe’s leading fashion platform, with 50 million active customers, 1.8 million items and 7,000 brands across 25 countries. Its marketplace model connects consumers, creators and retailers through logistics, marketing and data services. The “do.MORE” program sets emissions-reduction targets, promotes circularity (recommerce, rental, repair) and inclusion (Adaptive collections, unretouched imagery). Zalando invests in generative AI for styling, augmented reality for virtual try-on and stock optimization. With “Platform as a Service”, the company aims to be the starting point for fashion, inspiring each customer to express individuality in a more responsible way.
Partnership operations to turn 'Free to be' into concrete collaborations (designers, institutions, sustainability initiatives) and avoid superficial, logo-only deals. Strategic framing, mapping and qualified introductions, followed by negotiation, contracting and activation scenarios. Finalisation of structured partnerships and a consolidation roadmap to scale the most effective formats.
The pipeline mapped 52 stakeholders; 24 qualified approaches were conducted, leading to 3 structured partnerships, i.e. a 46.2% approach rate and a 12.5% conversion from approach to signature. Activation planning covered 18 deliverables, with 15 executed, corresponding to an 83% counter-party fulfilment rate; 2 of 3 partnerships were renewed. Reporting tracked partner category, activation reach, deliverable completion and compliance with usage-rights constraints. Estimated partnership value secured (cash and in-kind rights and inventory): EUR 1,080,000.
