Alexander Nguyen's Blog

When you go shopping for consumer goods, there are always one or two items in a store that catch your eye because they “stand-out” and are unique from the rest. This creates an psychological “need” in your mind to stand out buy a product that is different from the rest. Behold the power of co-branded.

Just after reading Rose Koo’s blog on The Future of Advertising: Co-Branding!, she points out how many brands are from the same company, therefore they are not intentionally “battling each other out” like mac vs pc or pepsi vs coke. Also, she mentions that Co-branding is about integrating two brands to promote one another, which is absolutely true and beneficial to companies since the advertisements are attracting a larger audience base.

I found it very interesting to reflect and think back to all those times that I ended buying products that were apart of the same commercial even if there was one in particular that wasn’t really beneficial to me. The power of co-branding turns either a wanted product into a MUST HAVE or an unwanted to a need, primary because we are influenced by that one (or second) brand has to offer.

Here are some Co-Branding advertisements:

In the first commercial, the movie Avatar went off to win multiple academy awards and became the number one grossing movie surpassing the Titanic. In addition to that success, the LG eXpo phone became the first projector phone to sell out within a day or its release. Now why is that?  The consumers who loved Avatar felt that they could get the same experience through the LG smartphone’s 3D mobile projector, so that they could watch anything, anywhere on a  much larger screen than the average 4 by 3 inch mobile LED surface.

As for this commercial, the name Marvel and Capcom are unparalleled and unmatched brand names for comic and video game enthusiasts. What happens when the two decide to launch a fighting game together? The unit sales for the game surpassed any previous fighting game since 1970. I believe this is ground breaking, especially since Street Fighter 2 (also made by Capcom) dominated the charts for many years. For me, this marketing move was probably the smartest move since the incorporation of the two companies.

Personally I am for the use of co-branding, especially in technology. I think that in today’s society, it is a given fact many people love products that work hand in hand with each other, and if it is two brands that are respectable and valued, the “want” is much greater. I believe that companies who use this strategy enjoy a potentially larger revenue since it substantially influences the buying behavior of the consumer.

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