Nov 1, 2003 12:00 PM

The case for co-marketing

With all due respect, in your roundtable discussions on the evolution of promotional marketing [“Brands at the Crossroads,” PROMO July], the value of “below the line” customer marketing was undervalued. Arguably, the most dynamic aspect of marketing today is the area of customer or co-marketing.

There are more funds available for customer-level marketing than there are for consumer promotion and advertising combined. And, more and more, these dollars are converting from traditional trade, only dollars to more contemporary consumer/customer dollars.

The latest Cannondale study reports that co-marketing investment among CPGs has risen 40% since 1999 while the remainder of the traditional marketing disciplines (consumer promotion, advertising and traditional trade spend) are flat to down. And this trend extends well beyond CPGs to wines and spirits and many hard good manufacturers who must deal with Big Box retailers.

The reason for co-marketing's sudden and continued growth, from a marketing standpoint, is that co-marketing is the only discipline to deliver a “Three Pronged Attack”: 1) It impacts the consumer, 2) influences the customer, and 3) provides activation of programs at retail, where the majority of purchase decision are made.

Another emerging factor that will further expedite the emergence of co-marketing is the evolution of the marketing mix analysis — the Holy Grail of brand management. Traditional marketing mix analysis includes consumer promotion, advertising and traditional trade spending. However, more manufacturers are incorporating co-marketing into the mix. When co-marketing is included, the results support the power of the discipline. In most of the cases that have been shared with me, the return on investment has consistently been strongest behind co-marketing activity. Co-marketing events have outperformed advertising and consumer promotion. This trend will continue as more focus is turned to the value of co-marketing.
Paul Kramer
Ryan Partnership

Declaration of independence

Excellent article. You scored a bullseye [in “Storm Shelter,” PROMO August].

Having initially come from the “large advertising and promotion agency” side of the business, I experienced much of what you covered so well in your article.

The concept that drove Brigandi & Associates and continues to stand as the core of the business is a simple one — provide a strategic and creative resource for clients who demand exceptional marketing communications support, and require an agency structure that can respond quickly and thoroughly to marketing challenges.

B&A is 13 years old, and happy to be independent!
George Brigandi, President
Brigandi & Associates

Mourning the WUSA?

Since you've tracked the WUSA [PROMO August], you might be interested in consumer research we have conducted on the WUSA and related issues:

• The WUSA tried to sell itself to sponsors as the ultimate vehicle to reach soccer moms. Unfortunately, the soccer mom phenomenon is dead. Not that fewer kids are playing soccer, but Gen X moms do not identify as soccer moms as much as their Baby Boomer predecessors. Unfortunately, the WUSA was pushing a societal trend that prospective sponsors had already discarded. (For example, the current Nissan Quest ads declare, “Moms have changed,” and may be the first minivan ads that have turned 180 degrees away from the soccer mom concept.)

• In contrast, our research identified a different trend that should have been relevant to the WUSA — the “obsessed soccer dad.” Most girls serious about soccer are pushed into it by dads who wanted to make sure that sports were a key part of their daughters' lives. We also found indications that their dads were the ones going out to buy WUSA tickets and merchandise, whether or not the girls were interested.

  
  James Chung
  james@reachadvisors.com

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