Dunkin Donuts joined Baskin Robins, Yum! Joined Pizza Hut, and now Cold Stone Creamery from Scottsdale, Arizona and Tim Horton’s from Oakville, Ontario have joined forces to offer the perfect balance of coffee and ice cream. The CEO’s of each company met at a restaurant industry gathering in Toronto in 2008 and just one year later they merged the two restaurants together. Just like any major decision they had to first conduct market research to make sure consumers were interested. After collecting data and analyzing the market the CEOs agreed to test out their idea in two Tim Horton’s in Providence, Rhode Island. The outcome was worth the risk and they exceeded their revenue targets.

This co branding strategy is estimated to increase Cold Stone revenues and since Tim Horton’s only has 500 locations in the U.S, the partnership should help them expand. They also figured out through market research that ice cream sales peaked around 4 pm. Due to the exploratory research they intend to offer more Tim Horton’s products in the morning and more Cold Stone at night. The chains intend to continue advertising separating however more research is being done to figure out how to advertise the co branded locations together. In order for any company to be successful they must conduct research in order to understand the market and what their consumers are demanding; that is exactly what these companies are trying to do.