Cross Promotional Ideas
Cross promotion is an effective way for a business to expand its product into a new consumer market by riding on the coattails of an already-successful product. Cross promotion can work for any product, but it's important that a logical connection exists between the two products.
Peanut butter and jelly is probably the first cross-promoted product, and this pairing came as a result of consumer behavior, not marketing savvy. An MP3 player and free MP3 music is a natural cross-promotion pairing because the one uses the other to operate.
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Cross Promotion Basics
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Most people can think of at least one natural pairing of products in terms of routine usage, end benefits, or a totally new use that can be exploited via cross promotion. To initiate a cross-promotion partnership, contact the company's brand manager and reference the opportunities for joint promotion.
Barriers to Cross Promotion
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Cross promotion may require new advertising, sales promotion, and perhaps even packaging changes. The majority of cross promotions get market awareness through packaging. All potential promotion initiatives represent potential, unplanned-marketing expenditures. There also has to be a give-and-take exchange in terms of what the other company benefits from the association.
Without a clear end benefit and rationale for possible additional money outlays, your cross-promotion idea might not be viewed as advantageous. Even with one company agreeing to foot the cross-promotional marketing bills, a company would still want to evaluate the impact of a marketing pairing on its consumer perceptions and its distribution partners. If the two products are not viewed as brand equals, a wonderful and natural opportunity to cross promote may not be realized.
Logic of Cross Promotions
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Marketers can learn of noteworthy pairings through information gleaned in market research from consumers. Cross-promotional ideas often exist naturally, others need to be manufactured. Shampoo and conditioner is a natural cross-promotion idea. Toothpaste and toothbrush is another natural cross-promotional duo.
Manufacturing unnatural cross promotions is more of a challenge. Brands within the same company are more likely to cross-promote because the rationale for cross-promoting is an easier sale internally.
Cross-Promote for Awareness and Trial
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Household product companies often cross-promote products to energize a mature brand such as shampoo by promoting it with a newer product entry such as a feminine-hygiene deodorant spray. Because the audience is the same, a cross promotion may work. Even here, pairings work best if there is some logic to their use.
Pairing shampoo with laundry detergent for example is a stretch however. Nevertheless, big companies often tie brands together, with the awareness and trial benefits of the pairing outweighing the logic of the duo.
Cross-Promote New Brands
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Liquor companies often promote new flavors of an alcohol beverage through cross promotion. This is a very logical cross promotion of parent and child brands. Absolut Vodka introduced a number of brand flankers by packaging sample sizes with original Absolut. These pairings can be quite successful to create both awareness and trial for a new product introduction.
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