Cross-marketing: description, features, forms and characteristics

Today, almost all markets are full of goods. Such an excess of supply makes the consumer very legible and it is increasingly difficult to incline to any purchase. Cross-marketing appears in response to growing competition and the increasing involvement of the buyer in communication. How quickly and cheaply to attract customers? This question torments marketers around the world. There is no one right answer to it. But cross-marketing is able to solve a number of problems to attract consumers, but there are a number of nuances in its application.

The concept of cross-marketing

Answering the question, what is cross-marketing, you need to remember that marketing is the company's activity in promoting goods or services in order to meet the needs of the consumer and make profit.

However, marketing efforts are becoming more expensive, and their effectiveness is reduced because of the high information saturation of the consumer environment. The promotion specialists try to come up with new ways to reach the target audience, so there is a technology of cross-marketing, co-marketing or cross-marketing. Its essence is to accumulate efforts to promote several companies within the framework of one communication program. Two or more producers of goods or services in the same advertising campaign affect the overall target audience.

The history of the emergence of cross-marketing

Cross-marketing, as a special technology of promotion, emerges in the 90s of the 20th century, when traditional methods of sales bring ever less results or require more and more investments. Then large companies in the United States decided to join efforts to promote goods and received a great synergistic effect. This is how the concept of cross promotion or cross-marketing was born, which very slowly took root in the commercial sphere, but at the beginning of the 21st century it became a habitual technology for advertising certain goods and services. Today, this technique is poorly understood from the theoretical point of view, but practical experience allows us to say that it has its undoubted merits.

Advantages of cross-marketing

Thinking about who and how to conduct cross-marketing, it is necessary to determine the main advantages of this method of promotion. The most obvious plus of joint promotional activities is the saving of the advertising budget. The consumer receives a double benefit, therefore, with great pleasure responds to offers.

All this not only reduces costs, but also enhances the effectiveness of communication. Another advantage of cross-marketing is the possibility of wide coverage of the target audience and access to new segments. As each partner company enters into advertising activity with its target audience, the addressees are extended at the expense of the partner's audience.

When finding a worthy partner, cross-marketing allows you to significantly improve your image, increase customer loyalty, and increase the number of consumers aware of the brand. Cross-marketing campaigns cause more confidence in the client, he carries some of the notions of a known firm to her partner, thereby improving the image of this company. At the consumer associations of partner firms are formed, this greatly simplifies the memorization of information and gives a greater psychological effect.

Types of cross-marketing

Co-branding advertising campaigns are traditionally divided into:

1. Tactical. Those that are limited in time and solve short-term tasks. These are usually referred to as one-off partnership actions.
2. Strategic. Long-term, multifaceted cooperation between partner firms. Allows to solve various tasks, including in the sphere of image-making and branding.

Also highlight cross-cultural marketing, as a kind of promotion in international markets. In this case, the resources of two or more countries are pooled for the promotion of products. In its pure form, such promotion can not be called cross-marketing, as cooperation is conducted within the same brand. With the cooperation of different countries, it is necessary to take into account cultural and linguistic differences, so that the goods receive the correct semantics in the new region. Often for promotion in other countries it is not enough simply to translate advertising texts. It is often necessary to develop a new package and sometimes even change the name so that the image of the product is positive.

It is possible to divide cross-marketing activities in the distribution of roles between partners. They can be equal in rights and then their common efforts allow achieving higher goals. For example, a company that promotes an expensive brand of kitchen furniture can take in partners a well-known brand of built-in appliances. The second option is unequal relations, when one brand is much more famous than its partner brand. In such cases, the contract is concluded in such a way as to balance the situation and distribute the benefits in accordance with it.

Conditions for applying cross-marketing

Joint marketing events require special conditions to be met, so that the promotion activities are successful. The program of the co-branding advertising campaign is influenced by the objectives pursued. Already proceeding from them, it is necessary to develop the concept of promotion.

Thus, strategy and tactics are responsible for cross-marketing. Examples, conditions that are taken into account, can be divided into two groups: on the part of the initiator and on the part of the partner. The initiator should be well aware of the image of the partner and his target audience. The partner, in turn, must see the benefits and benefits of cooperation.

When planning a cross-marketing campaign, you should make sure that the target audiences of the partners overlap, but do not coincide completely. The offered goods should also have common ground, ideally, meet some common need. For the consumer there should be some kind of benefit from participating in the action, for example, he gets a discount or a gift. Partner products must be in the same price segment. It is not necessary to carry out a cross-marketing campaign, for example, for a Mercedes and some water from the village of Penkovo. The quality and level of the goods must correspond to each other.

Basic forms of cross-marketing

Cross-marketing can be presented in three main forms:

1. Joint advertising campaign for partner products. In such events, partners act as equal customers of advertising. For example, the Coca-Cola brand conducted a co-branding campaign with McDonald's under the slogan "Together tastier".
2. Joint bonus or discount programs. In such campaigns, the client, using the services of one firm or buying one product, receives discounts or bonus points for the goods of another brand. For example, Aeroflot issued a joint card with Sberbank, which accumulated points for transactions.
3. Joint BTL-events. Tasting, celebration or action can be carried out by two or more campaigns.

Cross-marketing technology

Like any marketing event, co-branding companies require a certain sequence of actions. Cross-marketing usually includes the following stages:

• Definition of goals: as in any marketing event in co-branding, one must understand what should happen as a result;
• Choice of partners: very important and responsible stage, which requires separate consideration;
• Preparation for the event: at this stage it is necessary to determine the resources, conduct motivational procedures for the staff;
• Development of a cross-marketing plan and its coordination with partners: it is necessary to define such parameters of the campaign as the volume of bases for the exchange, the frequency of actions, the timing of the campaign, fines and bonuses, the development of a campaign script, the identification of those responsible for implementing the plan;
• Implementation of cross-marketing campaign;
• Summarizing and evaluating the effectiveness of activities.

Partner search and evaluation

Cross-marketing, partners in which play a key role, is built on the following principles:

• Partners should not be competitors;
• Goods also do not have to compete with each other or replace each other, it is desirable that they are complementary;
• Partners must cross the target audience;
• Goods must be in the same price segment.

Searching for a partner is a very important and important stage in co-branding. To evaluate a potential partner is necessary on the following parameters:

• Real image, it must correspond to the level of the initiating company;
• Presence of a common target audience;
• Presence of loyal consumers;
• Fame;
• Marketing activity.

This information will help you find a potential partner for cross-marketing campaigns.

The application of cross-marketing in different spheres

Cross-marketing is not suitable for all products and spheres. So it's hard to imagine in the B2B field, basically such campaigns are designed for the end user. Such measures are very effective in the segment of premium goods and services, provided the partner is at the appropriate level.

Excellent in such campaigns in the promotion of food and various services. Most often today you can see the application of this technology in the restaurant, banking, insurance and tourism sector, in the promotion of cars, clothing, household appliances.

Sociologists have calculated that the 500 largest companies in the world over the past 10 years have entered into more than 60 different partner programs. This contributes not only to joint advertising campaigns, but also to the release of new products.

Cross-marketing in tourism: limitations and opportunities

Cross-marketing, examples of which can be found in the field of tourism, today is becoming very popular technology. Co-branding in this field of service provision is possible at all levels. For example, when promoting air tickets, you can join forces with the services of searching and booking accommodation or with a transfer service to the hotel.

Travel agencies combine very well with insurance companies, providing the client with a better service and enhancing each other's image. Difficulties in applying cross-marketing in tourism arise in connection with the search for a reliable partner. Today, travel agencies believe customers with great care, so cooperate only with trusted firms.

World experience of cross-marketing

Cross-marketing, whose proposals can be found in various fields, already has a long history. For example, a fairly long and effective relationship has developed between the network of hotels "Sheraton" and the airline "Lufthansa Airlines". An interesting move came up in the company Procter and Gamble, launching a co-branded advertising campaign for washing machines Bosch and detergents for Calgon. Combining the efforts of air shows, credit and insurance organizations has already become a classic in cross-marketing.