Cross-promotion:

Cross-promotion is a form of marketing promotion where customers of one product

or service are targeted with promotion of a related product. A typical example is
cross-media marketing of a brand, for example Oprah Winfrey's promotion on her
television show of her books, magazines and website. Cross-promotion may involve
two or more companies work together in promoting a service or product, in a way
that benefits both.
For example, a mobile phone network may work together with a popular music artist
and package some of their songs as exclusive ringtones - promoting these ringtones
can benefit both the network and the artist. Some major corporations, for example
Burger King, have a long history of cross-promotion with a range of partners (see
Burger King advertising). The Disney Channel has also made extensive use of crosspromotion. Movie tie-ins are good examples of cross-promotion. On occasion, badly
planned cross-promotions can backfire spectacularly - for example the 1992 Hoover
free flights promotion fiasco.
Co-marketing and co-branding are particular forms of cross-promotion.

Cross-media marketing:
Cross media marketing is a form of cross-promotion in which promotional
companies commit to surpassing the traditional advertisements and decide to
include extra appeals to their offered products. The material can be communicated
by any mass media such as e-mails, letters, web pages, or other recruiting sources.
This method can be extremely successful for publishers because the marketing
increases the ads profit from a single advertiser. Furthermore, this tactic generates a
good liaison between the advertiser and the publisher, which also boosts the profits.
One of the first steps to integrate cross media tactics effectively into a specific project
is to evaluate and examine a customers preferences.

Scheduling When should I contact the customer?

Rate What is the correct time frame to leave between the delivery of my
first, second and third message to the customer?
Pacing - How frequently should I check up on the customer?
Incidence If a customer is not responding, how long should I continue to
pursue the offer?

Commandments of Cross Media Marketing

Cross media marketing programs are difficult to advertise; therefore, Damien Marchi,
who was involved in the second season of Big Brother in France, created eight
commandments to cross-media marketing success.
1. Give users access to exclusive content not seen on television. During a TV or
movie production usually more material is shot than can be shown. Users like
this unused content exclusively, for example on the Internet, through a club.
2. Interact with the show- Give the power to the audience. Involve the audience
by having them vote, ask questions and by polling them
3. Make the show even more known. Use besides television the other media to
keep the users in touch with the show.
4. Increases users loyalty. Loyalty of fans can be stimulated by a fan club and
viral games.
5. Recreate the atmosphere. Levy the atmosphere of the TV show to another
medium.
6. Continue the show on the web. Use the TV show to drive the other devices
7. Enhance the watching experience. Stimulate simultaneous use of media
(browse the Internet when watching TV for example).
8. Use multiple devices. A multi-device system built around a TV show allows
channel to increase the number of revenue streams.
Real Time Personalization and Variable Data Printing:
Real Time personalization (RTP) is an innovative way to looking at cross media
marketing. RTP has the ability to see who visits each webpage. In addition, if
companies have the ability to see a website viewed by a potential customer, then the
company can quickly personlize what the customer is looking and make appeals to a
certain product. After a real time personalization search, a business plan is created
to fit each potential customer. When a potential buyer is looking at a company's
advertisement, a popup add usually appears.
Every product that a customer accepts, five to seven linked advertisement pages
popup. RTP captures these acceptance rates, locate advertising company, and
supplies the information necessary for the next step in the business plan. Variable
Data Printing (VDP) constantly modernizes and enhances the communication
between the marketing company and their customers. In addition, if a campaign is
personalized and directed to a specific audience, then more customers will typically
buy the product. Therefore, VDP creates a cycle of increases profitability, raising
brand awareness, and gaining prospective sales. All of these elements are needed
to enhance the marketing of products.

Customized Offers:
For mail, companies use the information collected from their customer analysis to
provide the individuals with personalized letters or upcoming offers. On the internet,
customization permits users to have access to exclusive messaging. In addition, the
VDP assists the marketing process by talking to each specific group of customers
and giving them personal attention rather than treating them all the same way. This
consumer and company process is very common in large online retailers such as
Amazon.com. The more personalized an offer is to the target audience; the more
prone they are to react positively.[5]
Some of the data that can be investigated to strengthen personalizing the offer
includes:

Personal information including a the customers age, gender, and living

environment (small town or city)
Calculating the customers expiration date of a magazine subscription is very
important because then the marketing company is able send the individual a
notice about re-subscribing.
Keeping track of a customers involvement and acceptance rate in the
companys offers is very essential. If a customer is providing the company
with constant business than sending them an offer for in store redemption is
common courtesy.

Problems
One of the major problems with cross-media marketing is the creative development
level. Getting one group to collectively use their creativity and communicate with the
other areas of work is very difficult when one team is working on television, another
is involved in designing the print creative, another is developing radio ads, and yet
another is putting together the Internet program. Although the messaging elements
are not very hard to compose, creating a campaign that is completely mutually
dependent, with each branch of the project fulfilling their task, is quite impossible
when the creative teams are split. Therefore, to achieve some sort of cohesion,
teams must communicate and corporate with each branch.
Cross Media Marketing Corporation and Lawsuits
The Cross Media Marketing Corporation is a company uses e-mail messages or
telephone calls, which are personalized to each specific customer, to sell their
product. In 2002, federal regulators filed a criticism that the corporations magazine
division was breaching marketing regulations. The Federal Trade Commission
stepped in and claimed the company withheld information, misrepresented
subscription lengths and prices, and billed customers for magazines that they did not
order.

3 steps to great cross-promotional marketing

Cross-promoting allowed them to tap into each others databases and collectively
reach potential customers beyond what would have been possible through separate
marketing efforts.
Cross-promotional marketing belongs in the toolkit ofand can be successfully
applied by just about every small business. Although many smart owners have
responded to current economic challenges by adopting good business practices
such as closely monitoring margins, keeping on top of receivables, trimming
expenses, reducing payroll hours, and tightly managing inventory, they continue to
underutilize cross-promotional marketing as an efficient way to grow their businesses
especially during a soft economy.
A win-win strategy
So, what is cross-promotional marketing, and how can it improve your bottom line?
Cross promotional marketing is the creation of win-win results through increased
visibility, good will, and cost savings that are possible when enterprises share
resources to target a common market.
Big companies cross promote all the time. Consider these examples:
Redbox video rentals. The video-rental company places its boxes outside of
fast-food and drugstore outlets;
ShellWinn Dixie partnership. The grocery chain is offering fuel rewards for
shopping in its stores;
Smart phones and wireless companies. Wireless carriers promote specific cell
phones to attract users; and
Fast food chains in travel centers and superstores. Stop for gas along the
Interstate and grab a burger of fried chicken from your favorite fast-food chain, or
stop for a snack while shopping in a big-box store.
Although these large ventures are capital-intensive and therefore cost-prohibitive to
small businesses, small businesses can find great success through creative cross
marketing. Essentially, good cross promoting requires following three steps:
1. Understand your customers. Do an intensive analysis of who they really are and
what makes them tick.
Consider: What are their ages, gender, income levels, marital status and
addresses? What are their values? What do they read and how do they get their
information? What leisure activities interest them? Where do they spend their money

when they are not with you? What products or services do they need that are related
to what you provide?
To find the answers to these questions, use surveys and focus groups to research
customer trends in your industry, including possible trade association reports.
2. Identify businesses that target similar customers. Make a list of businesses
whose customers share some of the same characteristics as your customer base.
Be creative. For example, a health club might find a restaurant offering a health
conscious menu and serving a similar income level of clientele to be an ideal
potential cross-promotional partner.
To identify those businesses, consider: Are many of your customers movie goers?
Do they frequent art galleries? Engage in outdoor sports? Support charitable
causes?
3. Find benefits for everyone involved. When you discuss cross-promotional
marketing with a potential partner, make sure that there will be something there for
everybody. For example: Begin with a contest, using each others products or
services as the prizes. Each business would benefit from the contact list generated
from those who enter the drawing.

Partnering with nonprofits

Partnership with a nonprofit organization can be a great way to address a societal
need while also satisfying the key purposes of cross-promotional marketing
increased visibility, good will, and cost savings. Here are some tips:
Make a good customer match. Most nonprofits have multiple key stakeholders
or customers, which may include their cause recipients, their members, and their
individual and institutional donors. Apply the same rules to find a nonprofit partner as
you would a for-profit partner.
Find a good values match. Research the mission and reputation of a potential
nonprofit partner: Is it a good match for your values and the message you want to
send?
Consider in-kind methods of partnering. Think of whether donating employee
hours, a percentage of receipts, space for an event, or products or your services
might work better for your business promotionally rather than donating cash.
Go all out. When making an in-kind donation to a nonprofit, do it well, or not at all.
A contribution of a less than impressive bouquet by a florist or a skimpy food platter
by a catering firm may well do more harm than good when it comes to developing
good will with a nonprofits stakeholders.[/private]

CROSS PROMOTIONAL IDEAS :

Cross promotion is an effective way for a business to expand its product into a new
consumer market by riding on the coattails of an already-successful product. Cross
promotion can work for any product, but it's important that a logical connection exists
between the two products.
Peanut butter and jelly is probably the first cross-promoted product, and this pairing
came as a result of consumer behavior, not marketing savvy. An MP3 player and free
MP3 music is a natural cross-promotion pairing because the one uses the other to
operate.
1. Cross Promotion Basics
o Most people can think of at least one natural pairing of products in
terms of routine usage, end benefits, or a totally new use that can be
exploited via cross promotion. To initiate a cross-promotion
partnership, contact the company's brand manager and reference the
opportunities for joint promotion.
Barriers to Cross Promotion
o

Cross promotion may require new advertising, sales promotion, and

perhaps even packaging changes. The majority of cross promotions
get market awareness through packaging. All potential promotion
initiatives represent potential, unplanned-marketing expenditures.
There also has to be a give-and-take exchange in terms of what the
other company benefits from the association.
Without a clear end benefit and rationale for possible additional money
outlays, your cross-promotion idea might not be viewed as
advantageous. Even with one company agreeing to foot the crosspromotional marketing bills, a company would still want to evaluate the
impact of a marketing pairing on its consumer perceptions and its
distribution partners. If the two products are not viewed as brand
equals, a wonderful and natural opportunity to cross promote may not
be realized.

Logic of Cross Promotions

o

Marketers can learn of noteworthy pairings through information

gleaned in market research from consumers. Cross-promotional ideas
often exist naturally, others need to be manufactured. Shampoo and
conditioner is a natural cross-promotion idea. Toothpaste and
toothbrush is another natural cross-promotional duo.

Manufacturing unnatural cross promotions is more of a challenge.

Brands within the same company are more likely to cross-promote
because the rationale for cross-promoting is an easier sale internally.
Cross-Promote for Awareness and Trial
o

Household product companies often cross-promote products to

energize a mature brand such as shampoo by promoting it with a
newer product entry such as a feminine-hygiene deodorant spray.
Because the audience is the same, a cross promotion may work. Even
here, pairings work best if there is some logic to their use.
Pairing shampoo with laundry detergent for example is a stretch
however. Nevertheless, big companies often tie brands together, with
the awareness and trial benefits of the pairing outweighing the logic of
the duo.

Cross-Promote New Brands

o

Liquor companies often promote new flavors of an alcohol beverage

through cross promotion. This is a very logical cross promotion of
parent and child brands. Absolute Vodka introduced a number of brand
flankers by packaging sample sizes with original Absolute. These
pairings can be quite successful to create both awareness and trial for
a new product introduction.