Co-branding Strategies

When the ideas of several people, companies or brands come together with a common goal, the results are better and tangible. This is perhaps the reason why one of the most used marketing strategies in the current year is co-branding.

The shopping experience is having increasing importance for users, who demand interactive and emotional purchasing paths from the various brands. What better opportunity then to activate a collaboration between brands, a strategic partnership to expand the reputation of your brand or product?

We can define co-branding as a marketing strategy that sees multiple brands, compatible in some respects with each other, taking part in a project that reflects the values ​​and personalities of both, giving added value to the final consumer.

For it to work, in fact, all the players in the game must obtain an advantageous solution.

The customer can experience a totally new and emotional shopping experience, as well as convenient. Often this is a double advantage, compared to purchasing the product of a single brand. It should not be forgotten that the products that arise from collaborations are almost always in limited editions, therefore exclusive, and which can increase in value over time.

From the side of the brands, the benefits are so many. Of course, awareness and profitability benefit in general. On the basis of which companies are collaborating, it is possible to expand your audience or reach a niche one, expanding or focusing the target and the market. In economic terms, it also reduces advertising and marketing costs, because they are shared.

Think you’ve never heard of co-branding? I do not think it is possible, you have clear examples every day under your eyes. We will list some of them, to better explain what are the achievable results and to give you food for thought!

Since 2019 the most famous fast food in the world has collaborated with the number one recipe site in Italy to create Hamburgers with selected raw materials, guaranteeing all the flavors of the regional traditions of our country.
This is how McChicken Variation was born, which at their first launch in just over two months were enjoyed by 8 million people.
The secret formula of this great success is very simple, as unthinkable at first glance: underneath the main target audience of the two brands is the same!
Families, People who want to cook or eat something fast, lovers of taste and good flavors, but above all, Italians who love their tradition and want to savor it even when they eat “international dishes”.
At McDonald’s the speed in preparing your order is guaranteed at an affordable price, at Giallo Zafferano the care in the choice of ingredients and respect for the traditions of our country.
To keep faith with these values, all the ingredients are 100% of Italian origin.

A collaboration could result in a product or service destined to completely change our habits. This is the case of Apple Pay, born from a union of strengths and knowledge of Apple and Mastercard. Without mutual help from the two companies, this new payment method would still be just an idea. In a nutshell, this app, which you find already installed on Apple products, allows you to save your cards digitally, so you can use them without physically having the cards with you.
To make this technology a reality, Apple had to rely on the credit card company Mastercard, which has integrated it into its purchasing tools. Likewise, Mastercard, which had already developed contactless payment, implemented the technology through Apple that allows you to authorize a payment via Touch ID and Face ID. It was also important to be able to count on each other’s notoriety, which initially left little room for similar products from the competition.

Even if you’re not a big fan of Chiara Ferragni and don’t follow her on Instagram, it’s still hard not to hear about her. The Blinking Eye and the Eyepatch, symbols of her brand, are everywhere. Over the past year, the digital marketing genius has started several successful collaborations. He preferred to expand his market through brands within everyone’s reach rather than with big names in haute couture fashion.

Ferragni’s wink and hand have appeared on the products of Pigna, Pantene and Oreo, but also Nespresso, 24bottles, Lancome and Champion.

The winning move of the Cremonese entrepreneur is to have implemented co-branding strategies with the leading brands of their sector and most purchased by consumers, opening up to totally different markets.
So here she is in the stationery shop, at school and in the office with Pigna, at home with Oreo, Pantene and Nespresso, in beauty with Lancome, in the backpack with 24bottles, in the gym with Champion. The products born from her collaborations always maintain affordable prices, slightly higher than the list prices of the brands she works with.

Before Chiara Ferragni, already a brand of great designers, she had done co-branding, her ace in the hole to reach an audience that through clothes and accessories would have been unattainable.
Dolce and Gabbana have launched into food & beverage to open the doors of luxury to a large slice of potential customers. They also took advantage of the various co-branding opportunities to tell about Sicily, the homeland of Dolce and the great love of Gabbana.
The geometric and colorful iconography of the southern land has appeared on all the D&G collaborations that have gone between wines and spirits (such as Martini and Donnafugata) panettone, pasta and ice cream, (such as Algida, Pastificio di martino and Fiasconaro) up to to the small and large Smeg appliances.

The goal is to strengthen that bond and people’s trust in the brand and get their name around as much as possible. Dolce and Gabbana thus confirms to be a brand of style, not of product, its signature is recognizable and applicable everywhere, I don’t know to clothes and accessories.

Defining your brand and telling it through an experience is a great way to influence your target audience.
If you have an idea that you are not sure you can achieve on your own, get in touch with other brands that can help you! Stay up to date and meet the expectations of customers looking for news and new experiences through a co-branding strategy.