How to manage multiple brands??

The brand a company creates is what a company aspires it to be. It is a company's guarantee to the customer of the quality of the product or service they seek or have come to expect.

A brand encompasses more than the branded product or service that the brand owning company delivers. It includes a bundle of intellectual property rights (including trade marks, copyright, design rights, patents) and other intangible assets, as well as trade dress, packaging and advertising.

The first step in the branding exercise is to create and invent an authentic, novel word or device that will set it apart from other brands in a particular industry. It could be clever, novel, catchy, aesthetically appealing, simple yet unforgettable but ultimately different, which makes it stand apart.

The more distinctive and unique the brand is, the easier it is to be distinguished from other brands and thus easier to protect.

So, all the brands should be distinct from each other..

Definitely based on the contribution/return on investment by the BRAND

There are companies with multiple brands. So the companies have its own merits and demerit. It is very important to differentiate the products from others and proper targeting is also essential. And also it is necessary to analyze which brand contributes more. Moreover the multi -brand companies have the advantages of spreading the risk, greater market share, and profits. However, great care is essential to manage the multiple Brands in the market.

Sometimes it leads to nightmare situation which results in cannibalization. For example, suppose Brand X may be a well established brand and Brand Y may be an inspirational brand. Advertizing for Brand Y may lead to a growth in selling, but at the expenses of Brand X. In case the support from the customers is switched back to Brand X, the decline in sales is reversed, but at the cost of Brand Y. This is because each brand from the multiple brand portfolios may be having different customer base with different buying behavior, and different rate of market share.

To enhance the market share of each brand a thorough market study is required. Now the question arises as to which brand needs to support? Therefore we have to assess which brand in the portfolio give best return on investment. Here again the ROI will vary according to the brand positioned, contribution, and market share. Besides to the operational advantages, large brands drive market share growth through strong brand equity built over years. The likelihood of increasing market share is much greater among large brands with high brand equity.

Funding each brand according to its size or current profitability may fail to capitalize on brands with potential. There are many factors that play a part in such decisions including whether the category is in growth or decline, changing social trend, and demographic changes etc. The importance of particular brands to the company is also a factor which can not be underestimated. Large dominant brands, brands with future potential, and those able to indirectly affect sales may also require support.

1. However, brands with strong momentum are also likely to provide future profits and equity analysis of brands should be factored when assessing which brands are worth investing in. Further other factors like forthcoming innovations, competitor’s threat, pricing level, and the quality of up coming marketing activities are to be taken into account. In view of the above a good well planned marketing strategy is required to manage the multiple brands.         

The complexity in handling multiple brands is intense. A product based organizational structure where different brand managers are responsible for different brands will allow the company to be more efficient and quick in  responsiveness to the market. Proper care should be also be taken that the organizational structure should not be very deep and a vertical one. A horizontal structure would be more efficient.

In a scenario where one has to manage multiple brands, the best way to do so is to separately budget for each brand based on its business goals, monitor continously to ensure it doesnt get diverted from the path it is intended for and then build it to a level where it can take care of itself. Very often in multi-brand organisations, brand owners tend to dilute all the brands by either cutting short on the advertising spends or indulge in cross promotions within the brand basket only to upset it all. Hence we have a case where a electric iron is given free on buying a two wheeler only because the ultimate brand owners are the same for both of them.

INVARIABLY EVERY BRAND HAS ITS OWN USP,BY VIRTUE OF WHICH IT IS ACCEPTED WIDELY,RECOGNISED AND PATRONISED  BY THE CONSUMER,WHICH KEEPS THE BRAND PROFITABLE AND ALIVE.USP HELPS DIFFERENTIATE ONE BRAND FROM THE OTHER.BY FOCUSSING MORE ON USP OF DIFFERENT BRANDS,EVERY PRODUCT WILL HAVE ITS OWN STRONG CONSUMER BASE AND WILL BE ABLE TO  GROW FURTHER.