McDonald's also has brand partnerships with many other brands, including Fisher-Price toys for its Happy Meals. 3. Ingredient Brand Segmentation of Brand Alliance A special case of brand alliance is ingredient branding, which is to create brand assets for materials, components and parts that are essential in certain brand products. Famous ingredient brands include Dolby Noise Reduction, Gore-Tex Waterproof Nylon, Teflon Non-Stick Base Coat, etc. Some popular ingredient brand products include Betty Crocker’s Baked Goods mixed with Hershey’s Chocolate Spread , Lunchables products containing Taco Bell’s tacos, and Lay’s chips made with KC Masterpiece’s barbecue sauce. Ingredient brands aim to create enough awareness and preference among consumers about the product so that consumers will not buy a product that does not contain that ingredient. From a consumer behavior perspective, branded ingredients are often seen as a sign of quality. In an interesting study, Carpenter, Glazer, and Nakamoto found that the inclusion of a branded ingredient, such as Alpine-grade filler in down jackets, had a significant impact on consumer choice, even This is also true when consumers are explicitly informed that the ingredient is irrelevant to their choice. Clearly, consumers infer that the ingredients in a product, if branded, will bring about superior quality. The homogeneity and predictability of ingredient brands can reduce risks and allow consumers to buy with confidence. Therefore, ingredient brands can become industry standards in the minds of consumers, and they will not buy products lacking this element. Consumers don’t need to understand what the ingredients do, just be convinced they add value. On the one hand, mature brands are trying to find distinctive low-cost and high-efficiency ways; on the other hand, potential ingredient products are also looking for ways to expand sales opportunities. Therefore, the use of ingredient brands is becoming increasingly common. A product can contain several different branded ingredients. Ingredient branding is not limited to products and services. For example, RadioShack, a specialty retailer of electronic products, has established strategic alliances with Compaq, Microsoft, RCA, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, etc., allowing these manufacturers to install phone booths in RadioShack's 7,000 stores in the United States. 4. Brand alliance application strategy The method of creating brand assets through alliance brand strategy has many similarities with traditional brand strategy. The success of ingredient brands needs to adhere to the following four basic principles: 1. Consumers must perceive the impact of the ingredient on the performance of the final product. Ideally, its intrinsic value can be seen or experienced. 2. Let consumers believe that not all ingredient brands are the same, but that the ingredient brand is more outstanding. Ideally, the ingredient is sufficiently innovative or has potential advantages. 3. Design a distinctive symbol or pattern as a mark to clearly inform consumers that the final product contains ingredients of the brand. The symbol or pattern should ideally be a symbol that is simple and versatile, can appear anywhere, and reassures consumers that it is a sign of quality and confidence. 4. Finally, marketing “push” and “pull” must be coordinated and just right. Let consumers understand the importance and superiority of this brand ingredient. This requires constant advertising and promotion to consumers—sometimes working with manufacturers and developing retailer planning and promotion plans. As part of the "push" program, there will also be a promotional effort to gain cooperation from manufacturers and sales channel members.