BusinessWeek: The Pros and Cons of Co-Branding

By Steve McKee

The moment Roger Penske announced his planned acquisition of the Saturn brand from GM, Saturn dealerships around the country initiated a spontaneous and organic co-branding campaign, erecting banners and billboards to celebrate the alliance.

Saturn of Wichita's advertising proudly proclaimed: "Finally, a car guy owns a car company." Scott Davies, owner of the dealership, explained the resulting traffic increase by saying: "People want to buy from someone they like. A lot of customers won't buy a car from GM, but they will buy a car from Roger Penske." That's why Davies—and many other dealers like him—were so
eager to associate Saturn with Penske.

It was an odd and unintentional (at least from GM's perspective) co-branding effort, but it paid off. Saturn's marketing director, Kim McGill, said the Penske announcement led to a 35% sales jump in June over the prior year. (more)