Harvesting the synergistic benefits through brand Co-Marketing.
Co-marketing is a distinctive way brands can promote themselves in the marketplace. Co-marketing occurs when brands utilise each other’s service offerings or goods to attract customers and provide a benefit to consumers via the association.
A recent example of co-marketing by two well-known brands in South Africa took place when the prominent loyalty points scheme (Vitality) sidelined a well-known retail store (Pick n Pay) in favour of another retailer (Checkers). In the recent co-marketing arrangement, Vitality members’ HealthyFood benefit rewards will increase substantially when purchasing healthy foods both in-store or online from Checkers retail outlets.
Checkers has surged in popularity and market segment in recent years. Consumers were grabbed since the pandemic and Checkers now dominate the delivery of groceries, undoubtedly changing the shopping habits of consumers going forward. Some may argue that the success of Checkers Sixty60’s the grocery delivery product of Checkers is because of its disruptive marketing strategy, whilst others may argue that Checkers’ timing was simply perfect being at the forefront during the pandemic.
What cannot be denied is that these brands through co-marketing rely on each other at a non-competitive level to strengthen their respective brands’ equity, allowing for market expansion, whilst introducing innovative offerings to their respective members and consumers.
By engaging in co-marketing both parties give weight to their newly found co-marketing collaboration efforts which bolsters market equity and upholding their competitive brand market position.
Co-marketing often occurs between unrelated goods and services as highlighted in the example above. It is important to note that a co-marketing initiative must not be driven in isolation. Instead, brand owners engaging in co-marketing partnerships, should ensure that their intellectual property strategies (IP strategies) are in place. The IP strategies must factor in the nature of the initiative and more importantly, ensure that the brands’ identity is not changed and ultimately diluted if used in an uncontrolled manner. Mechanism and fail-safes must therefore be embedded in order to ensure that the brand is not damaged.
Brand owners must consider the following:
Trade marks
- The correct use and controlled use of registered brands play a vital role not only to prevent dilution of the brands, but also ensures that registered marks are protected against non-use cancellations.
Contractual relationships
- Proper licensing and co-marketing agreements must be put in place and enforced, regulating the use of the brands, the marketing initiatives scope and further the protection of the vested copyright in the respective brands.
Co-Marketing is an attractive vehicle available for brand owners to bolster their brand equity and marketing position from joint initiatives, whilst safeguarding their brands with proper IP agreements and provisions protecting their own brands’ reputation and standing. Doing so safely requires implementing the correct procedures and being cognisant of the possible changes that may result from the marketing initiative. So, it is important to consult an IP attorney prior to agreeing to the shared use of any IP.
By Aletia Oberholster | Senior Associate and Viteshen Naidoo | Junior Associate
