Creating Co-Branded Strategies

If you're even remotely familiar with retail commercial real estate, you'll know of Yum! Brands. They are among the most prominent leaders in the Fast Food industry, along with other similar companies like Focus Brands and Inspire Brands. We've talked about Yum! Brand's most innovative concept - Taco Bell Defy - in a previous article. While some of us at Sites USA are waiting for our own Defy in Chandler AZ (take note Yum! Brands Real Estate Executive!) we think their competitor, Focus Brands could be starting another trend in the industry: Co-branding.

Co-Branding. What Is It?

Co-branding isn't actually a new concept. You might even have one across the street from you right now. Our office is just down the road from a combination Dunkin' and Baskin Robbins, one of Inspire Brands' co-branded concepts. These types of stores are different from the “store-within-a-store” concept we've talked about on the blog before as well as ghost kitchens in the restaurant world. The key difference? Strategic Competition. While Target has brands like Starbucks and ULTA in most of their locations, these brands aren't competitors and more often complement each other in their target audience, experience, and of course, market offerings.

Focus Brands announced a list of co-branded concepts over the summer, including the online sensation Auntie Anne's/ Jamba concept. If you've ever had a craving for a pretzel but didn't want to deal with driving to your nearest mega-mall, well you're in luck! The Wylie, Texas location has been open since 2021, with Chief Brand Officer, Amy Gmelich, noting that:

Clearly, Focus Brands has hit the nail on the head with this co-branded concept, and only time will tell if their other concepts will be as much of a hit. It's only a matter of time before there's an Auntie Anne's/ Cinnabon on every corner!

What Makes Co-Branding Work?

While Auntie Anne's might be expanding outside of their traditional mall locations, the question becomes: Where? As the saying goes: Location, location, location. When choosing its first co-branded store for Auntie Anne's and Jamba, Focus Brands went with

These are just some of the ideas Focus Brands has been implementing for their first location, so they could still be experimenting with what works for their co-branded stores across the board, from Auntie Anne's to Schlotsky's and every brand in between. This is an exciting opportunity for other similar businesses to pay attention to, especially with all the hype surrounding the Auntie Anne's/ Jamba store. It might not be long before other companies start following in Focus Brand's footsteps. •

Last Modified Feb 6, 2023