Have You Heard About Cross-Branding and Co-Branding? These strategies have been used by major brands for years, and now, with digital marketing, they are becoming increasingly accessible.

Every day, hundreds of brands are launching joint research, reports, and all kinds of materials. To launch such materials, special attention must be paid to the branding of both brands.

But how does it work? How do the visual and editorial identities of the two brands align? That’s what we’ll discuss in this article, with examples to make everything clearer.

At the end, we’ll also dive into the macro strategy behind these two concepts. Let’s get started!

What is Cross-Branding?

Cross-branding refers to a campaign, product, or service developed by two brands that appear together in materials and jointly promote them.

But with one crucial detail: branding. In marketing these materials, products, or services, both brands are prominently displayed—using their logos, colors, concepts, and writing styles, all of which constitute their branding.

Cross-branding is an excellent strategy to bring more visibility to any campaign. Instead of communicating only with your audience, you also engage with your partner brand’s audience.

Strategic reasons for implementing cross-branding often include:

• Low market penetration: A lesser-known brand partners with a more established one to reach more consumers.
• New target audience: Similarly, a well-established brand can collaborate with a new market entrant that has a niche audience. This way, the newer brand gains market share, while the established one engages with a different demographic.

Cross-branding can take various forms. The most common examples include traditional methods like videos, print media, and billboards.

Here is a clear example of what cross-branding is: GoPro and RedBull, in 2012, broke records that didn’t even exist when they teamed up to create the RedBull Stratos campaign.

Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver, jumped from a height of 39.2 kilometers. The campaign won award after award, and to this day, no one has broken Baumgartner’s record.

It’s interesting to see how both brands operated with perfect synergy. Both support extreme sports and the philosophy of always pushing beyond your limits.

In this case, RedBull gave wings to Baumgartner, and GoPro was the only one capable of filming him flying, with two cameras on his arms, two on his legs, and one on his helmet of the pressure suit.

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Be Alike or Be Together

The GoPro and Red Bull collaboration was a perfect match. Both brands target similar audiences and convey similar messages.

Beyond branding, their practical goals were also met with great success. What did Red Bull gain from this campaign? Content that reinforced its message. And GoPro? The same.

What did they achieve together? The highest-quality footage and a 360° video of Earth from a skydiver’s perspective jumping from near space.

No one had ever done this before—neither the jump nor the filming. When two pioneering, boundary-pushing brands come together, their reputations and credibility soar.

Years later, people still remember this joint cross-branding campaign, and the target audiences of both brands feel even more connected to them.

Another very creative example is all the commercials produced by Adult Swim using the series Rick & Morty:

It’s eight minutes long, but it’s definitely worth watching to understand the nuances of co-branding.

In some commercials, the commercial style and dialogue are 90% Rick & Morty and 10% of the brand. In others, the dynamic changes: the brand has much more control, and the show’s acidic and sarcastic style takes a back seat.

Even the animation style changes. Some commercials use the characteristic animation style of the show. Others, like in the case of The Simpsons, use a 50/50 approach. And in cases where the brand is more conservative, only the voice of the actor who plays Rick is used.

What’s interesting is that these commercials are very popular. This video is even a compilation made by fans. But these examples of co-branding work best when the creators’ freedom is respected in the partnership.

There are several calculations you need to make in a cross-branding campaign. Now that you’ve seen some examples, would you like to learn more about how to plan one?

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What’s the Difference Between Cross-Branding and Co-Branding?

Cross-branding, as you can see, is a combination of the branding of two brands for the launch of a specific campaign made together. We understand that, right?

In co-branding, two brands work together to create a new product.

I’ll use an example that will make everything even clearer. Since we’re in the Rick & Morty mood, take a look at this product developed together with Pringles:

Notice how the visual identities of the two brands are completely different from each other. But both worked together, making a true fusion of visual elements, and created a new product with a jointly developed branding.

However, in some cases, brands create products together that don’t carry the identity of either participant. An example: there is a documentary platform called Nebula, created by YouTubers specializing in history, science, music, and art.

This platform is independent and maintained by the YouTubers themselves. They, together, developed a product – co-branding.

But this product doesn’t carry the visual or editorial identity of any of the developers. Each one of them has their own visual identity, their own way of speaking, and their own way of using visual elements.

But the Nebula platform has its own branding, independent, developed in partnership. That’s why it’s “co,” for together, and not “cross,” for crossing.

When the YouTubers run campaigns on their channels about Nebula, they use their own graphical and textual elements. And in the platform’s own campaigns, it uses its standardized and unique visual identity.

How to Plan a Cross-Branding Campaign?

Before anything else: to execute a cross-branding action, you’ll need intense communication with the brand you’re collaborating with.

The examples we’ve shown are extreme because they involve gigantic brands, with marketing teams larger than entire companies.

The cross-branding you’ll encounter in your daily life will be on a smaller scale. A live session with representatives from two companies, an action on Twitter, a collab on Instagram, an e-book with both brands, etc.

All of this is also cross-branding. In fact, many marketing professionals reading this article might have already done this kind of work without even knowing the name, as such actions are so common.

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Cross-branding operates in many ways and from many angles. That’s why strategy and communication are so important. Now, we’ll show you the key points to consider when running a co-branding campaign.

Let’s start with the objectives:

Why Are the Two Brands Working Together?

Before you start thinking about how to execute cross-branding, you also need to consider the justification for the partnership.

The question is exactly this: why are these two brands coming together for an action?

The example of GoPro and Redbull makes this very clear: their ideals are similar, and their communication style is too. The entire concept behind the brands – going beyond, discovering the new, pushing your limits, living a full life – aligns.

When you’re working with another brand on cross-branding, you need to go far beyond visual identity resources. A partnership means that both brands agree on their messages and concepts.

In short: you will never see an action from Greenpeace with Shell. Think in these terms before defining a cross-branding partnership.

The Strategy of Cross-Branding

Before launching a cross-branding campaign, you need to understand what common and distinct points your brand and your partner have.

And how they can interact together to achieve the maximum possible reach.

For example: your brand has been doing local commercials for 10 years with the same actress and regularly launches catchphrases that are even used in the daily lives of people in your region.

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And the brand you are partnering with has a recent tradition of launching Instagram reels, all with great views.

You notice that the message of the two brands is quite similar, but at the same time, it’s clear that the audience is different: one is local, the other is national.

The challenge here is to find a way for both brands to strategically interact. One handles TV advertising, the other uses the same concept and text in reels and posts on Instagram, maintaining brand unity.

And speaking of that:

Standardization of the style guide

While copywriting is not always as standardized in companies, design and visual identity are the opposite.

Typically, you will find a very detailed brand manual from the partner brand, and it must be followed to the letter.

The information you will find will vary, but it usually includes:

• Size and positioning of the logo;
• Colors;
• Alternative color schemes;
• How to use the brand name;
• Spacing.

Among various others. Here’s an example of the visual identity from TOTVS:

Here, the brand shows three ways to use the logo: any other use is wrong and will be blocked by the design team.

In cross-branding actions, everything depends on the agreement between the two brands. Which visual identity will prevail? Sometimes mixing them simply doesn’t work – the colors don’t fit, the styles don’t blend.

But regardless of the agreement, both brands need to be respected, and their distinct elements must be easily identifiable.

The style guide, the partner company’s brand manual, must be consulted during the creation of materials and during the review process as well.

Complete Briefing Document

This is the most important point of any cross-branding action: the briefing, or what we’re going to do together.

There’s no rule for how to create a briefing. Each company, agency, or marketing department creates its own as it sees fit.

The important thing is to do it. The briefing needs to include details like:

• The materials to be produced;
• The nature of the partnership;
• Who posts what and when;
• The expected goals and relevant KPIs;
• The deadlines for each material.

This is the minimum that needs to be included in any briefing. If you want some ready-to-use briefing examples, we’ve already developed several in this article, just click and download them for free!

How to create a co-branding campaign?

Creating a co-branding campaign has two main branches, as you’ve already identified here: the fusion of visual identities in the new product or the creation of a neutral product.

This is the key point you need to define early on in your action.

If the co-branding product uses a completely new identity, it’s interesting to define together what it will look like, so that the spirit of collaboration among the art team results in the best possible outcome.

Now, in the case of merging both brands into a single product, this work can only be done with much collaboration and respect for both brands. What we mentioned about how to do cross-branding visually applies here too.

We can’t offer you a step-by-step for how to do co-branding beyond what we’ve already shown you. You’ll need to see the briefing to understand what you’re going to do.

But let’s take this opportunity to talk about something we haven’t yet discussed: the standardization of writing. Look:

Standardization of Writing

In a co-branding action, a completely new writing style will emerge from the fusion of each brand’s editorial identities.

In these cases, it’s important that both brands work together, understanding how their writing complements each other to create this new style.

Large brands, especially those that produce a lot of digital advertising content, often have a style guide for copywriters.

TOTVS, for example, is one of these companies. It has a voice and language guide that should always be followed in any action.

However, most smaller brands don’t have anything like that or even something similar. What they have are people who’ve worked on their actions for so long that they’ve created an informal guide, just in the heads of the copywriters.

Start small: hold a meeting. In it, the copywriters explore how the two brands communicate. Once aligned, one company reviews the other’s work before releasing the material for production.

Are all Brand Partnerships Cross-Branding?

Not all brand partnerships are necessarily cross-branding. There are several types of partnerships, including supply partnerships.

For example, the butcher that sells meat to a hamburger shop is a supply partner. But that’s not co-branding, cross-branding, or co-marketing; it’s just a commercial relationship.

Companies enter partnerships for various reasons. But when this partnership involves some very specific aspects, it becomes co-branding.

Let’s talk a bit more about this topic in the next sections, take a look:

Is Collaborative Content Cross-Branding?

Most of the time, yes. Cross-branding is a joint branding effort, remember?

So, if the collaborative content is developed by two brands and both want credit for its development, it’s necessary to do branding for both in the final result.

The GoPro and RedBull example makes it clear how collaborative content is usually cross-branding. There, no service or product is being developed, just content.

But this content includes both brands’ branding. GoPro appears in the video with a watermark and other highlights for its logo, and the graphic elements used feature elements from both RedBull and GoPro.
So, never forget the branding in cross-branding. For it to be an action like this, both brands need to appear with their visual, conceptual, and linguistic elements in the final result.

Is a Joint Campaign Cross-Branding?

In some cases, yes, in other cases, no. Two brands can very well launch separate campaigns, each with its own visual and editorial identity, for the same products sold in the same store.

This is very common in influencer marketing. Brands involve several influencers at once in a big campaign, but the visual elements are completely different from one influencer to another.

And the brand’s own campaign may be completely different from anything the influencers are producing.

It’s always good to remember that cross-marketing involves visual elements. Two brands are doing branding together, using elements from both.

Running a joint campaign is co-marketing, but not necessarily cross-branding, and definitely not co-branding.

What’s the Difference Between Cross-Branding and Co-Marketing?

The two concepts have more similarities than differences. In fact, cross-branding is a method within co-marketing.

Confused? It’s simpler than it seems: all marketing efforts involving the collaboration of two brands are co-marketing.

So, all cross-branding strategies are a form of co-marketing. But some co-marketing cases are not exactly cross-branding.

Throughout the article, we’ve mentioned some co-marketing cases that don’t involve cross-branding. Joint research, a campaign involving several brands and influencers, etc.

In general, we can define co-marketing efforts as follows:

• Co-marketing is when two brands do marketing together, regardless of what they do;
• Cross-branding is when two brands do a campaign together, blending their branding or putting their products together in the spotlight;
• Co-branding is when two brands develop a product together with a different branding;
• Cross-merchandising is product-focused – where products are sold and need to appear together.

All clear with the definitions? Let’s continue:

Brazilian Marketplaces do Co-Marketing Every Day

You know the biggest marketplaces in Brazil, right? Then you know they also heavily invest in content to get more and more sellers on their platform.

These efforts are almost always co-marketing. The E-commerce Brasil website, for example, is a blog specialized in news about e-commerce and marketplaces. Often, these news come directly from big brands that send their articles.

Carrefour Marketplace, Shoppe, Magalu, Mercado Livre, and all the biggest marketplaces in Brazil send promotions to their sellers every day, participate in events, lives, fairs, etc. Sometimes with the sellers, other times with the tools their customers use.

All of this to create a large ecosystem of support for the sellers, who are the lifeblood of these marketplaces.

This is co-marketing, but not cross-branding. You already know why, right? But it’s worth reinforcing: it’s co-marketing because it’s done together. But it’s not cross-branding because there’s no visual standardization involving both brands.

Great Examples of Co-Branding and Cross-Branding

Did you manage to understand what cross-branding and co-branding are? Is the difference between the concepts and co-marketing clear?

The difference is the same as content marketing and inbound marketing, for example. Inbound is the methodology, and content is a tool.

Now we’re all on the same page! Let’s go to the best part of the article: checking out the best co-branding campaigns ever executed in the world. Take a look:

Kanye and Adidas: Yeezy (co-branding)

Celebrities release shoes all the time. But Kanye is not just a celebrity, he’s the embodiment of an idea, and one of the most famous people in the world.

The Yeezy was launched alongside the album Ye, in 2015. See how the branding of both worked in creating a unique product with a visual identity that combines the essence of both brands:

The interesting thing is that this shoe was launched during a major shift for Adidas. It had always been a brand focused on sports, but at this time, it was working to enter the streetwear world.

Together with Kanye, the partnership took off, and today Adidas is recognized for much more than sports accessories.

The Art of Travel: Louis Vuitton and BMW (cross-branding)

Luxury, luxury everywhere! This is the concept of the joint campaign launched by BMW and Louis Vuitton.

The automaker developed the BMW i8, and Louis Vuitton designed 4 bags with a precise design to fit perfectly in the car’s trunk.

Formula 1 Card: Formula 1 Heineken and Porto Seguro Bank (co-marketing)

This had never happened before: Porto Seguro launched a card with Formula 1 car parts, for sports enthusiasts.

Besides being a great campaign to expand its financial market, Porto Seguro also involved Formula 1 itself in this effort, securing an exclusive pre-sale batch for the 2023 Interlagos GP for cardholders.

Watch the video

Cross-branding and co-branding are some of the coolest actions your brand can take. The interaction is really fun, and you end up meeting amazing people in your field.

Partnership speaks volumes. And if you have the opportunity to collaborate on something, you should absolutely try it.

Let us know your experiences in the comments!