Disney cooperates with Novi Sad-based Neoplanta - Co-branding gains impetus in Serbia

Neoplanta has recently launched new pates and meat products that can now be found in stores across Serbia. There would be nothing unusual about that if their packaging and casing did not feature the images of famous characters copyrighted by Disney.

There is now an image of a smiling Mickey Mouse on the packaging of Patelina pates, whereas the rest of Disney characters can be found on the casing of Pipi Junior salami. Such cooperation between two companies or two brands is called co-branding, and it is a compared to a "marriage of convenience" in the marketing world. This "marriage" is completely legal because both "spouses" have agreed to it voluntarily expecting mutual benefits from that matrimony.

However, it is not rare that companies in Serbia illegally use logos or characters copyrighted by other companies. In that way, without asking for their consent, Chinese and Serbian manufacturers put an image of Peppa Pig or Hello Kitty on every second product intended for children. It is hardly possible that all of them have got the consent of Astley Baker Davis, creator of the famous pink pig, or Japan's Sanrio, home of the world's most popular kitty at the moment.

Still, no matter how big this step may seem to us, the company from Novi Sad has entered into holy matrimony with a multinational.

Bojana Golubovic Protic, marketing manager at Neoplanta, says the following to eKapija:

- Neoplanta has recently entered into a cooperation with one of the leading global giants - the Disney company. We've got a license and the right to print the images of its famous characters on our packaging. Neoplanta has decided to take this step to strengthen its leading position in the market and to enhance the corporate image.

Bojana Golubovic Protic stresses that thanks to the synergy of these two strong brands, high-quality chicken products were launched in Serbia in early November. She adds that these products contain no artificial colors or gluten, meaning that they are completely in line with the standards and requirements set by Disney. What is particularly appealing to the youngest consumers is that these products come in several different packaging designs.

Now the question is who can benefit from such cooperation and how typical it is to enter into this type of cooperation at the time of a crisis?

Experts believe that the cutting of costs is rarely in the focus of co-branding, except when it comes to promotion costs. Usually, the aim is synergy, that is, utilization of strengths of each brand or company. Therefore, co-branding cannot be brought in connection with the crisis in general.

When a company has a strong brand, a crisis can sometimes be helpful because it prevents other (new) brands from entering the market.

Certain companies also often decide to introduce cheaper brands of a lower quality, which are usually kept at a distance from the primary brand. One such example is Heineken and its Master beer, a product of United Serbian Breweries, which is a company owned by Heineken.

Bambi increasingly chooses co-branding

Neoplanta is not the first company to enter into a cooperation with foreign giants. Bambi-Banat often co-brands its products with other companies. One of its latest co-branded products is Aloma ice cream with Plazma biscuits.

Maja Simic, senior brand manager at Bambi-Banat, says to eKapija that the effects of co-branding have been very beneficial for Bambi.

- Through a cooperation with the Nestle company, we have offered our consumers a brand new product - Aloma ice cream with Plazma biscuits. In that way, we have given an added value to our existing offer, thus boosting our sales.

Considering that that cooperation has proved to be very successful, Simic says that they have decided to apply co-branding to some other products and, thus, expand their cooperation with other companies as well.

- We have recently entered into a cooperation with McDonald’s in Serbia, so that our consumers can now try something new in their offer, such as Plazma Supershake, Plazma Frappe, and a Mcflurry ice cream with Plazma biscuits – Savic says to eKapija, adding that they often receive co-branding offers from other companies.

As expected, these companies are interested the most in Plazma biscuits.

Jelena Djelic