On 18th Dec., 2018, the University of Manchester China Centre Alumni marketing Club invited two guest speakers to share with alumni their views and practice on “Co-Branding”. Co-founder of the club, Ms. Aileen Wei welcomed all attendees to join the club and shared her own experience from being a regional director of a multinational to starting up her own companies.

Ms. Lisa Zhang, founder of Alfilo Brands, shared with alumni her years of experience in co-marketing, co-branding, cultural and entertainment intellectual property that inspires product collaboration, experiences, and collections across all categories of retail and beyond, including IP management of BBC Earth, British Museum and BBC film “ Sherlock”, which was selected as the classic business case of Harvard Business Review.

Mr. Fred Chen, AMBS FT MBA 2012 alumnus, founder of UoM China Centre FT MBA Club, head of Marketing Strategy in CreditEase, shared with audience from a theorectical angle about his 15 years of marketing and strategy experience in finance, consulting, manufacture, and FMCG industries.

Co-branding is a useful strategy for many businesses seeking to increase their customer bases, profitability, market share, customer loyalty, brand image, perceived value and cost savings. Many different types of businesses, such as retailers, restaurants, car makers and electronics manufacturers, use co-branding to create synergies based on the unique strengths of each brand. Simply put, co-branding is used as a strategy seeking to gain market share, increase revenue streams, and capitalize on increased customer awareness. During the Q&A, attendees engaged in heated discussion and raised many thought-provoking questions such as how to manage the degree of collboration in a co-branding case.