Inbox Insider: Co-branded creativity bolsters partner efforts

Using e-mail to cross-promote multiple brands can be tricky, but when done right, it can noticeably increase ROI. The idea behind any co-branded effort should be for both brands to partner in a clever way that makes the joint experience better than either brand on its own.

For instance, in a recent campaign that infoGroup's Yesmail did for Hewlett-Packard, a tie-in to the DreamWorks film Monsters vs. Aliens helped to drive returns.

The campaign tied the film's monster theme to a “monster sale” of HP products. The effort consisted of a series of four e-mails, which were sent to more than 12 million subscribers over the course of 10 days. Each message featured a star character from the movie to highlight the price slash.

The campaign's goal was to take advantage of the popularity of the motion picture's characters to drive direct sales of HP products. The co-branded effort resulted in a big return for HP. The revenue per message of each e-mail was 80% higher than other messages launched during this year's second quarter. In addition, the click-through rates were 37% higher than other campaigns during the same period.

It is this kind of creative co-branding effort that can help to win customers over.