magine this: an ad features Hritik Roshan in John Player ensemble, listening to music on his Sony Ericsson W200i 'Thump' mobile phone, while surfing the net on his Acer laptop. This may be the scenario in the future. A number of marketers are now ready to showcase their brand in another brand's ad.

The recent examples of this phenomenon are laptop and PC brand, Lenovo featuring in a Zapak.com TVC and Caf� Coffee Day (CCD) featuring in a Yamaha Alba bike ad. The co-branding of CCD and Yamaha stemmed after the two entered into a joint promotional exercise for the launch of Yamaha Alba. The bike is being promoted at CCD outlets through various collaterals in the form of wall displays and tent cards. Simran Sablok, general manager, marketing, Caf� Coffee Day says, "We felt there was absolute synergy between the brands' target audiences. This form of integration makes the connect stronger." She adds, "A youngster having coffee at CCD notices the bike at his favourite hangout. And while he is surfing channels, he finds his favourite hangout next to the sleek bike."... more