Multi Branding vs Multi-Product Branding: Meaning & Examples
Quick answer: Multi branding means one company sells products under several separate brand names, usually in the same category (P&G sells Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Rejoice). Multi-product branding means one brand name is used for many different products (Virgin, Apple). Multi branding covers more market segments and spreads risk; multi-product branding is cheaper to build and launch new products under.
| Multi branding | Multi-product branding | Mixed branding | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand names | Many, independent | One | Own brand + other labels |
| Typical example | P&G shampoos | Virgin, Apple | Manufacturer that also makes store brands |
| Marketing cost | High (each brand needs its own budget) | Low (one brand to promote) | Medium |
| Risk if one product fails | Contained to that brand | Can hurt the whole brand | Contained to that label |
| Best for | Large companies covering many segments | Startups and growing brands | Manufacturers and private label suppliers |
Brand value is the core part of brand management, and it is also what distinguishes a brand from competing brands of the same type. As a company grows, it ends up with more products and sometimes more brands, and it has to decide whether to put everything under one name or build several. Below we compare multi-product branding and multi branding in detail.
What is Multi-Product Branding?
Multi-product branding, also called family branding or umbrella branding, means a company uses one brand name for all or most of its products, even across different categories. Virgin uses the same name for airlines, mobile phones and financial services; Apple uses one brand for the iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch. Customers who trust the brand for one product are more willing to try the next one.
Advantages
Marketing costs are lower, because every campaign builds the same brand.
New products launch faster and are trusted sooner, since customers already know the name.
A single, consistent brand image is easier to manage, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.
Disadvantages
One bad product or scandal can damage the reputation of every product under the brand.
It is harder to target very different customer groups or price points with the same name.
Stretching the brand into unrelated categories can weaken what the brand stands for.
What is Multi Branding?
Multi branding (multibranding) is a strategy in which one company markets several products in the same category under separate, independent brand names. Each brand has its own positioning, price and target customer, and many shoppers never realize the brands share an owner.
The classic example is Procter & Gamble (P&G). In shampoo alone it sells Head & Shoulders (anti-dandruff), Rejoice (smooth hair) and Pantene (nourishing). Because each brand is positioned differently, together they take up more shelf space and win more customer segments than one brand could.
Advantages
It can avoid the mutual influence of the same brand. That is to say, if there is a problem with one product, the impact on other products is relatively small, and the market risk is relatively small.
It can occupy more sales areas in the process of product sales, thus reducing the sales area of competitors, which will gain more market share.
It is conducive to expanding the market scale. Different product brands represent different product features and can attract consumers with different needs, which can increase the popularity of enterprises.
Disadvantages
Enterprises need to invest more manpower, material resources, and financial resources, including the cost of brand design, printing, and more advertising expenses, etc.
Taking up the limited resources of the enterprise, each brand needs to invest the same operating capital, which is not conducive to the establishment of a unified image of the enterprise.
Enterprises need a better management system to cope with the extra workload brought by multi-brands, and at the same time, they need to hire more employees to serve each brand.
Multi Branding vs Mixed Branding
Mixed branding is a related but different strategy: a company sells some products under its own brand and others under different names, most often private labels produced for retailers or other sellers. For example, a manufacturer may sell its own brand online while also producing store-brand versions for supermarkets. Multi branding builds several brands that the company owns and markets itself; mixed branding combines the company’s own brand with labels owned or sold by others.
For ecommerce sellers, mixed branding is common in private label dropshipping: the same factory product can be sold under your own brand while the supplier also sells it under its own name.
Two Examples of Multi Branding
Let me introduce two companies, one is a successful case of multi-branding, and the other is a failed case.
1
The Successful Case: Procter & Gamble (P&G)
Procter & Gamble(P&G), founded in 1837, is one of the largest daily necessities companies in the world. Its products of more than 300 brands sell well all over the world. P&G is a model of successful application of multi-branding, and its success is inseparable from detailed market research. It has established a powerful database, which can timely feedback on users’ opinions to product development departments and brand promotion departments, and facilitate the improvement of products and sales plans.
In the process of implementing the multi-branding, P&G has effectively divided the markets of various products, selected a market segment as the target market in combination with the specific market environment and resource conditions, and launched the corresponding brands according to the different needs of different markets.
At the same time, it also pursues the differences between different brands of the same kind of products, including functions, prices, packaging, publicity, and even psychological hints, etc., thus forming distinct personality differences of each brand, and each brand has its own development space, striving for the largest market share.
2
The Failure Case: General Motors
GM’s multi-branding comes from restructuring Buick and acquiring Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and other brands. In this way, GM made its products cover almost all potential car buyers, thus defeating Ford and becoming an important weapon for the sales champion in the automobile industry.
With the passage of time, the disadvantages of multi-branding also began to appear gradually. Due to the dispersion of competitiveness and internal friction between different brands of the same kind, GM has to spend more time and energy dealing with the relationship between brands, which also lays a hidden danger for its subsequent bankruptcy.
The financial crisis in 2008 dealt a severe blow to the automobile industry, and the sales volume of all brands under GM declined sharply, which eventually led to the bankruptcy and reorganization of GM. Whether or not, multi-branding has made GM a century-long glory; it also led to the ultimate failure of GM.
Five Strategies for Companies on Multiple Product Management
Before a brand has made an impact, it is anxious to launch the second and third brands to seize the market. Doing so will distract the energy of enterprises, which is also the practice of many small enterprises, and it is easy to backfire.
When the first brand launched by an enterprise has been recognized by consumers in the local area, it has already had an impact and become a best-selling product, and then a new brand is launched, which is easier to be trusted by consumers, and the enterprise can develop continuously.
Many brands have high requirements for the resource integration ability of enterprises. If the financial resources of enterprises are not strong enough and the resource integration ability is not strong, it is easy to drag the existing successful brands down.
In addition, the resources of enterprises are scattered, and consumers’ acceptance ability is not up to standard, so consumption dependence cannot be formed.
Launch multi-brands, aiming at different consumer groups in the same market. The price of each brand product should be strictly distinguished, and only after the influence of brands is large enough can the price overlap between brands be considered. If we can’t do this, launching a multi-brand operation is just a waste of enterprise resources.
Some dealers have a large sales volume in the local area, even larger than the scale of manufacturers. Such dealers have a high demand for profits. If the main brands of enterprises are sold by them as agents, the profits of enterprises will be very limited.
In order not to damage the main brands of enterprises, but also to mobilize the enthusiasm of big distributors, enterprises can hand over the newly launched brands to them for operation. This is a better method, which not only occupies the market, satisfies the profit requirements of distributors, but also makes the enterprises themselves develop continuously.
Customizing products and brands has become a trend in the industry. Enterprises can produce their own products according to customer’s requirements, that is, their own unique brands. In this way, brand development is personalized consumption, which is helpful to the increase of enterprise output and can also expand the popularity of enterprises.
Multi-brand operation is the trend of market development and the result of the long-term development of the industry. With the stricter consumption segmentation brought by market segmentation and consumption upgrading, more and more enterprises will use multi-brand operations. Doing well in the management of multi-product operations can lay a good brand foundation for the development of enterprises.
How To Achieve A Successful Multi Branding Management?
In an enterprise that implements multi-brand management, each brand is a member of this brand family. How can multiple brands of an enterprise support each other instead of influencing each other? Therefore, multi-branding management should be implemented.
Clarify the Market Areas of Different Brands and Give Full Play to the Role of Each Brand
If the brand positioning is not clear, different brands will eat into each other’s market. This requires the overall layout of enterprises when implementing multi-brand management, which not only prevents the overlapping of brand positioning and unclear market boundaries but also avoids the incomplete coverage of a multi-brand market.
The most typical example is P&G’s Rejoice, Pan Ting, Head & Shoulders, and Sassoon shampoos. Although their functions and ingredients are very similar, each brand has its own clear positioning, and its brand appeal has different characteristics. For example, Head & Shoulders’ main function is to remove dandruff, Rejoice is to soften hair, Pan Ting is to nourish hair, and Sassoon is to specialize.
Optimize The Brand Mix And Set Up A Brand Team Centered On The Core Brand
The brand combination is not static but should be constantly adjusted according to the position and importance of different brands along with the strategic objectives of enterprises. Managers should be clear about which brands are strategic, defensive, competitive, and for-profit in different periods and stages.
Multi-brand, multi-level, different objectives and tasks make the key points of the brand portfolio of enterprises sudden and clear, and the brand marketing ideas are very clear.
Allocate Resources Reasonably To Provide Strong Support For Brand Development
Brand building is a long-term process, which needs a lot of economic resources to cooperate. How to make a reasonable budget and arrangement for different brand resources is a subject worthy of careful study. Generally speaking, we can think from the following three aspects:
What are the core brands of the enterprise?
The core brand can reflect the advantages and development direction of enterprise resources and is the source of enterprise core competitiveness.
Which brands have the potential to become core brands?
With the change in market demand and the enhancement of the marketing ability of enterprises, those brands that are still in the second line may become the core brands in the next period.
Which brands are defensive?
The defensive brand is only used to construct a perfect multi-brand system, which will not have a substantial impact on the realization of the strategic objectives of enterprises.
Conclusion
Multi-brand is a big cake, do enterprises need multi-brand operations? How to play multi-brands? We can tell the enterprise what the answer is through professional analysis and evaluation.
A good brand is also reflected in the packaging. We can provide you with an unforgettable labeling and re-labeling service and can customize everything you want according to your requirements. These will make your product even more perfect and make your customers more satisfied and will buy again! Welcome to consult.
FAQ
What is multi branding?
Multi branding (multibranding) is a strategy in which one company markets several products in the same category under separate, independent brand names. Procter & Gamble is the classic example: Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Rejoice are all P&G shampoos, but each has its own brand and target customer.
What is multi-product branding?
Multi-product branding, also called family branding or umbrella branding, uses one brand name for many different products. Virgin (airlines, mobile, finance) and Apple (iPhone, Mac, Watch) are examples. New products benefit from the trust customers already have in the brand.
What is the difference between multi branding and multi-product branding?
Multi branding uses many brand names, usually within one product category, to cover different customer segments. Multi-product branding uses a single brand name across many products. Multi branding spreads risk but costs more to market; multi-product branding is cheaper to market but one failed product can hurt the whole brand.
What is mixed branding?
Mixed branding means a company sells some products under its own brand and others under different names, such as private labels made for retailers. A manufacturer that sells its own brand and also produces store-brand versions for supermarkets is using mixed branding.
Which branding strategy is best for a small ecommerce business?
Most small online stores should start with multi-product branding: one strong brand, one website and one marketing budget. Multi branding only makes sense once the first brand is profitable and you want to reach a clearly different customer group or price point.