Co-branding is an extremely common practice for companies of all sizes to raise awareness for a cause or product. Co-branding happens much more frequently than you probably think. Let’s take October’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month for example. The NFL teams up with the American Cancer Society for their Crucial Catch Campaign during the month of October to fundraise and create awareness for breast cancer.
What makes this such a great partnership? The NFL is able to show their community engagement, while the American Cancer Society is able to expose their cause to a large-spread audience. Both organizations successfully benefit from this co-branding and all for a great cause.
But how does co-branding begin? Successful co-branding happens when the organizations:
- Create a true partnership
- Have full trust in one another
- See the benefit of working with one another
If one organization is tepid about working with another organization, the co-branding will be unsuccessful. Both organizations must be on the same page.
If two similar organizations co-brand, there could be brand confusion. Making sure each brand is differentiated in a co-branding partnership is crucial so neither entities are lost.
Although there are potential risks in co-branding, success can be had for all if it is well thought out and executed correctly. Here are a few popular examples of successful co-branding:
- Apple and Nike – Created Nike+
- Dairy Queen and the Girl Scouts of the USA – Brought the iconic Blizzard and two famous Girl Scout cookie flavors together.
- Citi, American Airlines and MasterCard – A credit card to accumulate miles during purchases.
