Co-promotion and Co-marketing partnerships. What is the difference?A co-marketing agreement involves two (or more) separate companies agreeing to market and sell the identical product, but under two different brand names. Basically, both companies agree to sell the same molecule but in their own marketing style. If the molecule has more than one indication, it is possible for the agreement to specify that each company can only market one of the indications, which would reduce the competition for market share by the same molecule.Co-marketing is sometimes difficult for the sales force as reps face competion at customer level every day.This type of agreement might be put in place to access the market faster, e.g. if one the company has better introduction at government level.
A co-promotion agreement involves two (or more) separate companies agreeing to join their sales and marketing power to sell the same molecule as one brand. This requires consistent sales and marketing strategies for the brand by both companies. 
Co-marketing is much more popular in Europe than it is in the U.S. and Canada. North American companies tend to shy away from co-marketing because it creates competitive between two identical molecules, whereas co-promotion of a single brand increases share-of-voice and other promotional synergies. (Ref 1) Both co-mrketing and co-promotion need excellent coordination between companies at management level. References: 1. Datamonitor. 'Optimizing Promotional Alliances. Benchmarking co-promotion and co-marketing strategies within the pharmaceutical industry.' November 2003. Reference Code: DMHC1949.
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