Co-Marketing: Forming alliances and relationships

Two heads work better than one. Cliché as it may sound, this also holds true even for the marketing profession. Thus, in the 5th General Membership Meeting (GMM) of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA), the association reinforced its direction of forming and sustaining partnerships within the membership and with the industry players by discussing Co-Marketing.

Franz Decloedt, Group Brand Manager of the Coca-Cola Export Corporation, Margot Torres, Vice-President for Marketing of Golden Arches Development Corporation (McDonald’s Philippines) and Terry Villareal, Head of Customer Marketing Group of ABS-CBN, were invited to speak before the PANA members.

Decloedt first defined the key terms for the afternoon’s presentation: Alliances – an association to further common interests; Relationship – state of having a personal partnership with someone; and Forming – something built over time, not overnight.

Villareal revealed the key success factors of media-based partnerships: (1) Network partnership from end to end, (2) Perfect matching of brand and media and (3) Honest to goodness briefing. She emphasized that a very clear and specific briefing of the advertisers with the network saves time and maximizes resources in developing the plans of the campaign. The network’s thorough understanding of the campaign will enable them to match the brand with the right media property, which like the brands, have values and personalities too. She went on to inform the advertisers about the critical steps to take in starting a media-based partnership.

Torres, on the other hand, explored the six key success factors for promotions: (1) Appeal of prizes, (2) Local relevance of the promo concept, (3) Ease of joining in terms of mechanics and hurdle rate, (4) Ability to win instant prizes (5) Appeal of risk-taking/“gambling” to win bigger prizes and (6) Multi-media support. She expounded on the second factor stating that the local relevance is critical in order for the campaign to rise above the clutter and appeal to the masses.

To better illustrate the concepts behind co-marketing and co-promotions, the speakers discussed in detail several successful co-marketing campaigns.

Coca-Cola & Bench

Building on Coke’s universal Smile campaign and based on the fact that Filipino teens are feeling the economic crunch, the big idea was to turn negative instances into positive ones thru Coke. Coke then approached Bench, one of the most popular brands for teen clothing, to partner with them. Together, they set on the “Drink COKE wear a smile” campaign and used the Bench statement shirts of positivity as the campaign magnifier. Aside from the thematic and promotions efforts of Coke, Bench also gave ample contribution thru the Bench billboards featuring the promo ambassadors, Bench store seller shirts, Bench shopping bags and Bench store window displays.

Coca-Cola and Wowowee

Coca-Cola also partnered with a media network for their 50-Million Family Panalo segment in Wowowee. “We tied up with Wowowee not only because it was a top rating show but also because it is a credible show known for its generosity and for putting a lot of smile on Filipino’s faces especially when they are down and out,” said Decloedt.

Coca-Cola and SM

Another successful partnership was the one Coke had with SM, on the latter’s golden anniversary celebration. SM’s 50th anniversary commemorative Coke cans, which sold exclusively in strategic spots inside SM stores, were used to amplify the campaign.

McDonald’s and ABS-CBN

Given that McDonald’s connects with teens and young adults, whose top 3 passion points are TV, music and technology, McDo started a partnership with ABS-CBN in 2003 to launch the Game Ka Na Ba at McDo campaign. Kris Aquino, the Game Ka Na Ba game show host, graced TV commercials, print ads, and even the in-store promo materials such as standees, posters, streamers, banners, and tray mats. As part of the partnership, a special Game Ka Na Ba Edition was held where McDo’s main endorser, Sharon Cuneta, played for the benefit of the Ronald McDonald foundation.

The McDo and ABS-CBN partnership can also be credited for the successful execution of the Sound Signature Campaign with Jasmine Trias as the main endorser. This campaign consisted of TV and radio commercials, posters, banners, TV guestings in ASAP and a free CD upon purchase of a set of McDonald’s products.

Other campaigns mentioned were the MacTonight Mad Dash and Meal or No Meal campaign, based on the Deal or No Deal game show.

After hearing the successful examples of Co-Marketing, perhaps it is high time to consider the possibility and explore this option. After all, in this challenging business environment, it is important for companies to partner with others for efficiencies and leverage on one another’s expertise.