Have you ever thought about working with your best friend, and do you think it increases your productivity? It surely does. When you both complement each other ideas and the way your work together would possibly help in boosting the efficiency of the work you’re doing together, whether it be cooking, making assignments, or just creating a youtube video.
Similarly, sometimes two things swing better together than one. Co-branding is just a way of marketing that has been getting popular recently and for all good reasons. In this blog post, we will unveil the real facts about Co-branding and how it works. We will also shed light on some leading examples of successful co-branding examples. So, let’s delve deep into Co-branding and what it holds for you!
What Is Co-Branding?
When two or more brands collaborate together to market a product or service with the names of both is referred to as co-branding.
It’s one of the most powerful marketing strategies that businesses utilize to create brand awareness, reach a wider audience and ultimately increase their customer base. Co-branding can be done by two brands joining together to launch a limited edition product or by sharing their useful expertise and experience to create a synergy between both companies.
Businesses often yield tremendous results when they come in partnership with their co-brand. Like when two brands come together, then the audience of both brands collides to support the integration of these brands, which ultimately benefits both companies.
What Are the Benefits of Co-Branding?
Now, you must be thinking about why you should opt for Co-Branding. Well, here are various compelling reasons and benefits that depict the importance of co-branding:
1. Improves Your Brand’s Reach
Co-branding can significantly expand your reach by multiplying with an audience of your co-brand. When you forge a partnership with leading brands like yours, you will be able to get more brand visibility and a much larger audience of your own.
In fact, according to a study, 71% of customers say that they enjoy co-branding partnerships, which makes it clear that co-branding is certainly not an option but a necessity.
2. Strengthens Your Brand Image
Partnering with a credible brand could bring you more success and reputation. When two brands merge, they enjoy the perks of each other’s prestige. Similarly, you need to partner with a brand with a positive brand image and a prominent value in the market to improve your brand standing.
3. Promotes Sales and Increases ROI
When your brand appears together with a leading brand with a larger audience and a dedicated fan base, you will benefit from attracting more customers and generating better revenue for your business.
In fact, 43% of customers are likely to buy a co-branded product from a brand they already like. This means that you would be getting more sales and revenue for your co-branded product along with products of your own.
4. Offers Shared Cost and Expertise
Co-branding doesn’t cost you a whole lot of investment or extraordinary expertise. Co-branded partners share their resources and cost to make it affordable and effective for both partners to invest in this marketing strategy.
While you can enjoy the benefits of extended reach and a customer base, you also don’t need to worry about managing high budgets for your co-branding campaigns.
10 Co-Branding Examples
We have curated a list of co-branding examples you might have seen before but didn’t realize how successful they have been for these brands. So let’s get started!
1. BMW and Louis Vuitton
The first example is from the leading names in the luxury product industry that partnered together to gain an advantage of their co-branding. BMW launched a sports car model i8, and Louis Vuitton designed a limited edition four-piece set of suitcases and bags that can fit into a sports car’s rear parcel shelf.
Both brands obviously target a high-end society, and therefore, they successfully sold out these products for $20,000 for a four-piece set and a whopping $135,700 for a BMW i8. They also designed the products to complement each other’s launch, and their co-branding campaign remarkably managed to draw the audience’s attention.
2. Red Bull and GoPro
In 2012, when GoPro and Red Bull Joined hands during the greatest event in which the renowned Australian skydiver Felix Baumgartner broke three world records and jumped from a helium balloon 24 miles above the surface of the earth with GoPro.
This partnership between GoPro and Redbull gave them a major break in their sales and overall brand reputation. They also ventured into many athletes’ projects together to foster brand partnerships and promote unique perspectives to both brands’ audiences.
While the VP of sports marketing at Redbull aptly puts it, “GoPro camera technology is allowing us to complement the programming by delivering new athlete perspectives that have never been seen before.“
3. Burger King and McDonald’s
You sure have heard of these two competitor burger chains working for years to provide exceptional burgers. But how did they merge together to form a solid co-branding campaign?
That’s what happened back in the year 2019 when they partnered together to raise funds for children’s cancer treatments. McDonald’s was already in line to raise a $2 fund at every purchase of Big Mac, and then Burger King participated by removing their whooper from the menu to encourage sales of more Big Macs for the charity.
Certainly, this strategy enabled both brands to receive extra affection and support from their audience, which resulted in exceptional brand recognition and awareness.
4. CoverGirl and Lucas Film
To promote the prevalent Star Wars Movie (The Force Awakens) in 2015, CoverGirl and Lucas Films came together to design their co-branding strategy. In order to gain the attention of a larger audience of all genders, CoverGirl makeup artist Pat McGrath created star-wars inspired two makeup looks featuring a soft look and a dark look.
The famous CoverGirl makeup artist Pat McGrath said in an interview that“Over the years, there have been so many iconic characters that have become integrated into our culture in such a major way that it’s hard to imagine a world without Star Wars.”
5. Apple Watch and Nike
Apple and Nike have been working together on many projects since the early 2000s. Their main aim behind co-branding is to bring Apple Music to Nike customers.
Well, they both got a massive turnover when both launched Nike+ watches with Apple watch technology and exclusive Nike bands. This gave an edge to athletes and fitness freaks to track their performance through fitness tracking technology with added features of excellent display, GPS, and water resistance.
Nike and Apple both enjoyed huge customer recognition and sales throughout their partnership and have become an example of strategic co-branding for businesses.
6. Dr. Pepper and Bonne Bell
Just after two years of Bonne Bell’s inception in 1973, they strived to form a partnership with a leading soft drink manufacturer “Dr. Pepper.” Bonne Bell introduced timeless flavored lip balms in partnership with Dr. Pepper. The main aim behind this co-branding is to create brand awareness of both brands in their respective demographic audience. The ultimate result? They are still getting hype and praise since day one.
7. Harley Davidson and Ford
The co-branding campaign between Harley Davidson and Ford was a great hit for both brands. They continued the partnership from the year 2000 to 2011, which got real acclaim from their customers. Although, The target market for both of these brands was pretty same, which is high-income and 40-above male individuals. Through their collaboration, their loyal customer shifted their preferences to both luxury trucks and motorcycles which gave them a significant chance to earn much bigger revenue.
8. Starbucks and Spotify
Having a Starbucks chilled latte macchiato and enjoying Spotify premium music – a deadly combination, right? That’s why Spotify and Starbucks partnered in the year 2015 to provide customers with a memorable music experience while they enjoy their coffee.
This co-branding campaign enabled both brands to give their users a distinctive experience like never before. Spotify allowed Starbucks employees to create their own playlists for Spotify Premium that played throughout the day in Starbucks stores. This partnership gained huge popularity in both brands’ audiences while giving them a larger artists exposure.
9. Taco Bell and Doritos
It all started when Doritos launched its special Lacos Tacos with the yummiest recipe of taco bell and shell covering with Doritos. Doritos and Taco Bell partnered for this campaign in the year 2012, and their co-branded product is still running in full swing. They used a creative marketing tactic by wrapping the taco with a Doritos pack which gave them a huge benefit and, of course, sales. That has been a successful co-branding campaign for both brands equally.
Even Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed claimed the success of their partnerships by saying in an interview that “People who love Taco Bell eat a lot of Doritos, and people who eat a lot of Doritos eat at Taco Bell.”
10. Apple and Mastercard
Many co-branding campaigns aren’t done just to bring popularity and for the purpose of marketing. In fact, from Apple and Mastercard partnership, it can be seen that their merger brought convenience and usefulness to their audience.
When Apple allowed its users to pay through their phones without having a physical card at all times through its technology, “Apple Pay,” Mastercard was the first card company to step in and facilitate Apple. Their partnership not only gained a rage but also helped the users of both brands effectively by providing comfort in payment methods.
Wrapping Up
Co-branding could bring significant breakthroughs to your business’s marketing campaigns. By looking out for the ideal and perfect partners to co-brand, you can establish your position as the leading authority in this competitive landscape. While you can enjoy added benefits and perks of partnering with prestigious brands, you could also bring huge sales and revenue for your own business. So, dwell in the research of a perfect co-brand partner and witness your business’ growth like never before.
