Introduction
Co-branding is one of the new marketing strategies which are gaining popularity in the current global market. According to Pride (115), a number of factors always determine whether co-branding would be congruent and beneficial or not under a strategic alliance. Some co-brands have been successful while others have resulted into serious failures. While other firms have used this strategy to reduce or eliminate destructive competition within a given line of their products, other firms have not been able to achieve much from this strategy. One of the successful co-branding in the same category was the Exxon and Mobil that resulted into one of the best brands in the petroleum sector known as ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil was so successful that it emerged the largest company in world in 2011 and 2012 in terms of revenues (Ferrell 78). Another big success in co-branding was the P&G (Procter& Gamble). On the other hand, co-branding between the once leading supermarkets, Sears and Kmart, resulted into a failure. Another failure was the strategic alliance between Daimler Benz and Chrysler that had to be cancelled after a series of losses (Atkin 57). It is of interest to determine why in some cases the strategy yields impressive results while in other cases it results into a total failure. In this study, the researcher seeks to investigate benefits of co-branding in the same category and factors that would make a strategic alliance congruent and beneficial to the firms involved.
Justification of the research
The global market is getting increasingly competitive following the emergent of new transport and communication technologies (Davis 92). Many firms are struggling to remain competitive in the face of new challenges in the global market. Co-branding is one of the new marketing strategies that firms currently consider very effective in managing market forces. This research topic is very important because it will help investigate the relevance of co-branding to firms in the current market. According to the study by Blackett and Boad (127), researchers have been investigating the relevance of co-branding over the past few years. Their study reveals that co-branding has been used widely by many firms in the global market to gain competitive advantage over their market rivals. Although the existing studies reveal the importance of co-branding for products along the supply chain, little research has been done on co-branding in the same category (Fhima 21). The findings from this study will be unique because it will shed more light about strategies, benefits, and challenges in co-branding in the same category.
Research questions
In this research, the following are some of the research questions that will guide the process of data collection.
- What is the relationship between co-branding and severe recession?
- What are the benefits of co-branding to the firms involved?
Research hypotheses
In this section the researcher will develop a number of research hypotheses that will be tested empirically after the data has been collected. Holt (89) advises that it is important to select the most appropriate model when testing the hypotheses. The researcher developed the following hypotheses based on the research questions in the section above.
- Co-branding can help the involved firms to overcome economic strains within a given region by using combined resources.
- Co-branding may result into increased efficiency in producing a given good or service.
- Co-branding may help eliminate unhealthy market competition.
The researcher seeks to confirm the above hypotheses by collecting relevant data and conducting analysis as described in the section below
Methodology
In this study, the researcher will use both primary and secondary sources of data. The secondary sources of data will be obtained from books, journal articles, and other reliable online sources (Kothari 71). In order to obtain empirical results, the researcher will use deductive model to test the hypotheses. This involves three main steps. The first step will be to make prediction in the form of hypotheses. The second step will be to make relevant observation to confirm or reject the hypotheses. The last step will be to develop a theory based on the observation. There will be two types of variables which are independent and dependent variables. The independent variable in this case is co-branding. The dependent variables are the outcomes of co-branding to the companies involved. The participants will be sampled using stratified sampling method because of the two different groups needed to participate in the study (Khan 82). The researcher will use questionnaires to collect primary data from the selected participants. The questionnaire will be delivered to the participants through their e-mails, and once they have responded to the questions, they will send them back through the same channel. Data analysis will be done both quantitatively and qualitatively and the findings presented using figures, charts, and graphs (Kuada 34).
Conclusion
Co-branding has become one of the widely used marketing strategies, especially when a firm realizes that its weaknesses can be addressed by another firm. However, it is important to note that some co-branding ventures resulted in success while others resulted into failures. Depending on the approach that the two firms take, this strategy can help a firm gain competitive edge over market rivals or be a costly and worthless venture.
Works Cited
Atkin, Douglas. The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers. New York: Portfolio, 2004. Print.
Blackett, Tom, and Bob Boad. Co-branding: The Science of Alliance. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Business, 2009. Print.
Davis, John. Competitive Success: How Branding Adds Value. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: John Wiley, 2010. Print.
Ferrell, James. Foundations of Marketing. Australia: South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Fhima, Ilanah. Trade Mark Law and Sharing Names: Exploring Use of the Same Mark by Multiple Undertakings. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2009. Print.
Holt, Douglas B. How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding. , 2004. Internet resource.
Khan, J A. Research Methodology. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation, 2011. Print.
Kothari, C R. Research Methodology: Methods & Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd, 2005. Print.
Kuada, John. Research Methodology: A Project Guide for University Students. Frederiksberg: Samfundslitteratur, 2012. Print.
Pride, William. Marketing. Australia: South Western Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.