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How to Cross-Promote for Joint Venture Success

By Christian Fea

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 18Mar2010
Word count: 456
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Let's say you have not taken the full dive into a full-time joint venture. Is there something you can do to test the waters and find out if a joint venture is right for you? Absolutely! You can form a short-term JV with another partner for a limited time only as a cross-promotional effort.

Cross-Promotion 101

Cross promotion is an activity where you and your JV partner simply offer special deals on the other partner's products. There are many ways to cross promote and bring more attention from your respective customers to your JV partner's products.

Cross promotion can take many forms. One popular form for JVs is to simply display and merchandise your JV partner's products in your store while your partner does the same. Another way might be to offer coupons for special deals on your JV partner's products.

Another popular cross-promotional merchandising strategy is to package the deal. Both you and your JV partner can package products to sell for a special price, or even offer complementary services that customers of both businesses may need.

Case Study: Cross-Promotion Success

A good example of a successful cross promotion occurred just this last summer in 2009. The Excel beef division at the international food producer Cargill's in Wichita, KS and food giant Kraft paired up for a temporary joint venture that lasted from July through August 2009. The joint venture was planned to cross promote Cargill's ground beef products and Kraft's popular A.1. Steak Sauce.

Cargill's ground beef packages sold in retail stores throughout the Midwest carried a coupon for $1 off A1 Steak Sauce if purchased simultaneously. The joint venture also created awareness of both products by placing signs and product displays for A1 Steak Sauce near the fresh meat case, with signs placed for Cargill's beef near the A1 Steak Sauce aisle. This helped create awareness for customers and encouraged shoppers to interact with both products.

Additionally, to help steer customers away from traditional ground beef recipes, Cargill and Kraft promoted and offered recipes for flavorful dishes that used A1 Steak Sauce as the Texas-Style Burger, Bold 'n' Saucy Cheeseburger, and the All A1 Burger.

Although it is too early to determine the full financial returns of the joint venture, there is no doubt that the cross-promotional effort was a success. The cross-promotional efforts took place in over 1,900 retail grocery stores, including SuperTarget stores.

The Cargill-Kraft JV is a good example of how you can effectively form a JV for a short-term cross-promotional effort. Remember to utilize coupons, signage, and package merchandising to help make the JV a success. If you and your joint venture partner find that the promotional effort was a stunning success, you may want to renegotiate for a longer term.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability. To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

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