This paper analyses the strategy adopted by ALE Combustíveis, a Brazilian Company, in an operation designed to sell automotive lubricants at gas stations. This study reviews the alliances made with Elf and later with AC Delco, exposing ALE's motivations, partner selection, design of relationship model, alliance management and assessment of adopted model, confronting practical experience with prescriptions in the published literature. The model, named broker, is characterized by preservation of the brand's autonomy, with ALE contributing its structure and sales force, and its partner, in turn, the fuelling logistics and order processing. The case method was adopted as a research strategy and this report shows how successful the model selection proved, as well as the strategic blunders related to the operational capacity and product positioning, in the alliance with Elf, and in the forces of management interrelations within the channel, in the AC Delco alliance case, leading to failure in both attempts.
Strategic alliance; Marketing channels; Alliance management; Lubricants
