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By Rob Armstrong | March 26, 2026
Winning Together: Our Commitment to Partner Success
In the next edition of our Winning Together blog series, I want to talk about how one of the best parts of my role as CMO of Zebra is the opportunity to talk with our customers and partners. The early part of the year is a great time to gather with them in person at trade shows like NRF and our Channel Partner Summits.
These events provide unique moments to reflect on our shared journey and to chart the course for where we are heading next, together. Based on many of the conversations I have had at these events so far in 2026, I’ve noticed a powerful, consistent theme emerge: evolution.
The expectations of our customers and partners continue to evolve, our industry is continuously evolving, and Zebra is continuing to evolve as well.
A Fresh Look for an Evolving Frontier
Those attending our Channel Partner Summits immediately noticed a change: Zebra looks different. Our new and vibrant visual identity stands out, and that is intentional. For 55+ years, we built a legacy as a market leader, but the world has changed. Customer expectations have shifted, and so many of them are focused on the potential of automation and AI. We have a huge role to play in this new landscape.
Our previous branding represented us well as an industrial technology company. But our portfolio and our vision have expanded so our look and our story evolved. We needed our identity to reflect our position as a technology leader on the cutting edge of how frontline work – powered by AI – gets done.
Our visual refresh gets people to take a second look, but the message behind it holds the real power. It helps us, together with our partners, elevate the conversation with our customers, moving from a single product approach to discussions about comprehensive, intelligent solutions.
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As the foundation for intelligent operations, Zebra combines data, automation, and AI with essential human expertise to enhance frontline workflows.
Connecting Our Partners to Customers, Faster Than Ever
A modern customer journey almost always begins with a search engine. We took a hard look at our digital presence and saw a major opportunity for improvement. In fact, our analytics team discovered it was easier to find and purchase a baby zebra online than it was to navigate our website and buy one of our products. A few clicks could get you a new striped friend, while it took up to eight clicks just to find a partner who could help someone purchase a scanner.
We knew we had to fix this. Our How to Buy initiative directly addresses this challenge. First, we built dedicated, detailed product pages for every single model in our core portfolio. When customers or their future AI buying agents search for a solution, they now find a rich source of information.
Second, we dramatically reduced the effort it takes for an interested buyer to connect with the right partner through two simple pathways: Request a Quote for larger projects and Buy Online from our authorized e-commerce specialists for smaller orders. The program has seen incredible success since its launch, and it has helped us more effectively reach small and medium-sized businesses, a segment we previously struggled to engage.
Partnerships Built on Shared Opportunities
Our brand refresh and the "How to Buy" program both create new opportunities for our partners over the coming months, and it all starts with a collaborative plan. Our philosophy centers on mutual success. We ask our partners to begin with their own business plan. Where do they want to grow? Which verticals, technologies, or customer tiers do they want to pursue?
Our team of channel account managers and channel field marketers then engage in collaborative discussions with our partners to determine how we can help grow their businesses. This spirit of co-investment defines a true partnership. And as customer expectations evolve and our portfolio continue to expand, we will keep enhancing our PartnerConnect program. The common thread through all these efforts remains our unwavering commitment to our global ecosystem of partners.
We relentlessly pursue innovation and focus on our shared customer commitments to support our partners in providing intelligent solutions that enhance frontline productivity and deliver critical visibility across the supply chain. For more insights on our collaborative approach, I encourage you to watch this video to hear my full conversation captured at our Americas Channel Partner Summit.
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