<font color="#ff0000">Guest Article: </font> Gaurav Srivastav: Co-marketing tie-ups – A nascent approach

Co-marketing tie-ups -- the very name of this concept evokes the thought of a brand tying up with a movie, for usage of their imagery and footage to create short-term campaigns. While co-marketing tie- ups with movies has become a small industry in itself (media spends of about Rs 75 crore in a year); brands have still not woken up to the possibility of creating co-marketing tie-ups among themselves.

• Both talk about giving happiness.

• Both talk to the urban and semi-urban consumer, and not just to the strict 'youth' TG that others in their respective categories do.

• Both are the 'real thing' in the mind of the consumers, though Coke has not been able to capture substantial ground back from the competition.

How can Coke and CDM help each other? Let's find out what the brand requirements are in the present scenario.

The important question to be answered, if the brands decide to work together, is how they would help each other. Can Coke delight CDM's consumer? Can CDM provide new touch points to Coke? The answer to both these questions is 'yes'.

With approximately 4-5 crore units that Dairy Milk sells in a month, its packs are as potent a medium of reaching the target audience as any available in India today. And Coke can be a delight to consumers, if they have the opportunity of getting it free along with the chocolate they buy.

A matrix can be worked out to ascertain the value that each brand would deliver to the other; and hence, equate what they bring to the table. The important point is that this is not an exercise where Cadbury would buy Coke in bulk and give to its consumers; but one where anyone who buys Dairy Milk has the opportunity to interact with Coke. A special microsite for the tie-up, carrying both the brands, could do the trick.

The pack in the picture is just an imaginary design, created to give a better understanding of what is being conveyed in words -- the pictures used here have been downloaded from the Web.

What is being implied is that the possibility of brands helping each other is huge; and this can be in any category. Food and beverages, telecom, FMCG, consumer durables, service industry... All that we need is to keep ourselves informed and awake to the various touch points of reaching the consumer, and an open mind to 'who' can take you there.

For example, a telecom service provider could join hands with a handset manufacturer to gain penetration in post-paid sales. Or, a luxury brand could tie up with a package tour operator for a limited period of time, to pamper its potential consumers.

The best part about this approach is that it would help the brands use their internal resources to reach a substantial incremental audience, without having to spend hard cash. Hence, a lot more bang for the buck. Also, if done properly (working out the right value delivered to either brand), the CPT can be ridiculously low.

There are smaller brands in the market that have started thinking in this manner. Maybe, they would have to set a precedent, before the big ships set their sail in this direction. As of now, the co-marketing tie- up is a huge amount of potential energy that the Indian market has gathered in its development over the last 20 years, which is waiting to be converted into its kinetic form.

(The author is a marketing and media consultant.)