A co-promotion checklist will save you time and brain space

Those who are highly involved in a co-promotion partnership sometimes feel like they are working for two companies at once, and have to double up a lot of the work.

Some redundancy is inevitable, especially if both companies insist on having brand plans, financial estimates and other critical information set up in their corporate templates. Oftentimes, this is a requirement from the global head office, and your local senior management is complying with their directives.

Organization is the key to stop your head from spinning. Develop a co-promotion checklist , and update it anytime the agreement gets updated.

What type of information should be included in a co-promotion checklist?

1. Brand(s) involved in the agreement.

2. Termination date of the agreement.

3. Financial forecasts and Direct Marketing Expenses (DME, which means the brand's spending budget).

These are estimated prior to the commencement of the agreement, so there will most likely be adjustments throughout the lifecycle of the partnership. However, beware that all adjustments will be compared to what was originally included in the agreement. For example, assume $100M was forecasted for year two, with a spending budget of $15M. If the readjusted sales forecast is lowered to $80M, it is quite likely that there will also be a cut in the spending budget.

4. Promotional plan. Timelines and content.

Important!! Mark these dates in a calendar. Inform your manager immediately if you think any of these dates are not achievable.

Include all the content details requested in the agreement. It is usually acceptable to include additional information, but not acceptable to not include requested information.

5. Co-promotion management team.

The agreement may specify how many people, from which department and at which level of seniority need to be part of the co-promotion managemen team. It is important to be aware of this in case of staff changes which may require some training for new people involved in the co-promotion.

6. Sales information.

Sales information should be included in a marketer's co-promotion checklist because marketers are in frequent contact with the sales force, and may have an opportunity to remind the sales force of their sales expectations as per the contract during marketing presentations, such as the POA.