Co-Branding: Share Your Marketing Message (and Cost)

You have probably seen examples of cobranding without realizing it. Look in your wallet. You probably have (too many) Mastercard or Visa cards that have teamed up with your favorite airline, store, restaurant, sports team…the list is exhausting.

So what is cobranding? It’s when two (or more) brands team up to offer a new product or a hybrid of an existing one. Your Cheer detergent may feature Downy fabric softener. Your Ford Explorer may be designed by Eddie Bauer. Your Pillsbury brownies may have Nestle chocolate chips in them.

Why cobranding? Cobranding does a few things:

1. It expands a brand’s market reach. If you love Godiva chocolate but have never tried Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn (I’m making this up), you might want to try Orville/Godiva popcorn chocolate treats. (mmm. that would be good).
2. It boosts a brand’s reputation (well, it can. Or it can go the other way). Say you have a line of yogurt products no one has heard of. But through some kind of act of God, Kashi wants to partner with you. Now you can label your products (and ads): “Now with Kashi goodness.”  People identify with Kashi, even if they don’t identify with you. By being tied to such a well-known brand, you are boosting your reputation (and sales).
3. Cobranding enables you to take on a feature or quality you couldn’t otherwise possess. If what you do is make really good yogurt (can you tell I’m eating breakfast?), you probably don’t want to take the R&D time to develop really good granola. But Kashi already does that, so it’s win-win.