It is becoming increasingly common to see brands from different companies appearing together in the same campaign or specific communications. A catalyst for this has been the recent recession, because by embarking on joint advertising and promotion campaigns, there is an obvious cost-saving element. However, there can be other advantages as well, such as gaining access to the customer base of the co-branding partner or partners, and building value-added packages for consumers. For example, Coca-Cola, music company Capital Artists, and Henderson Land Development launched a HK$100-million campaign called Red Passion in the hope of getting consumers to buy more soft drinks, music, and hopefully residential properties.

Coca-Cola has also teamed up with some book publishers to package books with its diet products. Visa International has a marketing agreement in the Asia Pacific with Yahoo! Inc. to offer on-line shopping. McDonald's teamed up with the owners of Snoopy, the amous cartoon character, where the purchase of a McDonald's Extra Value Meal allowed people to obtain a Snoopy toy in the costume of that country or a U.S. state.

Many more examples can be seen worldwide, but the key question for brand management is whether being associated with other brands represents a good brand fit or not. In other words, a company has to be very sure that the symbiotic relationship will not devalue its brand. Associating with a brand that has different brand values could certainly do this. There is also the question of whether there is a good fit with the respective customer bases. Coca-Cola's association with Henderson Land Development might have addressed totally different customer bases, but the company associated itself with a declining property market. On the other hand, Coca-Cola's research shows 30% of Diet Coke drinkers read books, so the tie-up with the book publisher might make sense. Visa International and Yahoo! have a good overlap of customer bases, while McDonald's and Snoopy are both providing value for money and fun for families.

The secret to successful co-branding is to stay true to the brand personality and values, and to choose partners carefully-partners who not only share some of those values, but target similar consumer segments to which value added packages will appeal. Finally, when co-branding insure that the brand does not get eclipsed in advertising and promotions by the brand or brands with which it is being associated. Ensure that the brand gets a good share of mind!