Design-Driven Co-Branding Strategy

Nowadays, the commercial environment is getting more competitive andtransparent.“It is getting much, much harder for a brand to stand out in itsrespective category today. As a brand scrambles for consumer attention,aligning with another brand could be an attractive end-run around itscompetition. It might even propel a brand into a new category.”(MartinLindstrom,2010) Co-branding as a growing trend is accelerating, Sampson(2012) the Chairman of Interbrand notified that brand owners are realizingthat one way of gaining access to new markets, reduce costs, minimize risk,perhaps charge a premium, is to team up with a non-competitor. But, MartinLindstrom (2010), pointed out that over90%of brand alliances failed, halfof them for Three reasons:1, there isn’t equal value for the brands in therelationship;2, the brands’ values don’t match each other;3, and the strategyisn’t easily understood by consumers, and few research has done to helpbrand owners produce an efficient co-branding strategy and to solve theproblem above. This paper aims to solve the co-branding problems and achieve aco-branding success by providing a design-driven co-branding strategy tool.To achieve the aim, four objectives are formulated as below:OB1To define the benefits and values of Co-branding, and how does it helpsbrand owners to achieve their goals. OB2To find out the Role ofdesign/design thinking in co-branding process. OB3To explore the processof producing a successful co-branding strategy by Using design thinking anddesign skills. OB4To build a co-branding strategy model and give arecommended tool of producing a co-branding strategy for brands’owners tofollow.Research methods consist of literature review, case observations, casestudies, questionnaire, user research and creative session have been adoptedin this paper. The aim and objectives have been achieved during theresearches. The methods concluded from the research will solve the mainproblem which brought failures to cobranding cases.The research was carried on with two parts, the first part aimed to answer thequestion why we need co-branding as a branding strategy, and the second partis to explore how to develop a co-branding strategy. In the first part of theresearch co-brand was found as an efficient catalyst to leverage a brand.Image stretching and brand extension are two main ways of leveraging a brand by using co-branding as its strategy. In the following part, the wholeprocess of building co-branding strategy by design-driven methods weretested and discussed step by step, and the process were well visualize to helpreaders to understand the methods.As an outcome of the paper, a model was built to help brand owners andbrand consultancies understand the main concept of this co-branding strategyby explaining the relationship between brands and consumers, the purpose ofco-branding, and the roles of design in the research. Then, the methods wasorganized in order explain the process in details.This paper is also concentrating on design as a critical role inco-branding strategy, the contributions of design are mainly found in threeaspects: Design as thinking---problem solving, human-centered, createmeanings; Design as a process---research method; Design as a puredesign----concrete, communicate, and integrate.