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The Beauty of Brand Partnerships

When, why and how does co-branding work?

by Brandience Staff
Brand Partnership

Taco Bell first partnered with Doritos in early 2012 to promote a new menu item – the Doritos Locos Tacos. The co-branded item was immediately and heartily embraced by fans of both brands. The limited time offer generated tremendous buzz, bringing much needed excitement and sales ($200 million in the first six months) Taco Bell desperately needed at a time when it was facing a full-on assault from Chipotle’s “Farm” campaign.

Doritos benefitted from the partnership, as well. The brand became recognized as a flavor ingredient and enabled them to expand shelf presence in supermarkets with co-branded Loco Tacos flavored tortilla chips. The brilliant pairing of these two mega brands continues to bring fresh excitement to both brands — almost five years later. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But brand partnerships don’t always work as planned.

Consider the recent partnership between two leading fashion brands — Neiman Marcus and Target; or the one that paired cult-coffee super-brand Starbucks with global food & beverage powerhouse Kraft. Never heard of these partnerships? That’s because they failed miserably, with Target losing millions and Kraft ending up in court.

Avoiding such catastrophe requires sound strategy and grounding alliance in each brand’s DNA. The brand you choose to partner with must share your world view, your values and a large slice of your personality. Look for a brand that aligns with yours on important metrics like target audience, demographics and psychographics, brand values and character.

Most importantly, the consumers of each brand have to “get it.” Do they say “Ah ha!” or “Huh?” The most successful brand partnerships are built around those “Ah ha!” moments.

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