Businesses constantly aim to capture the largest possible share of their target market. So it’s not unusual for companies to introduce new products or services under different brand names. This approach is known as multi-branding marketing. In this article, we’ll explore the fundamentals of multi-brand strategy and provide some practical tips for its successful implementation in your business.
What Is a Multi-Branding Strategy?
A multi-branding strategy occurs when a single company develops and promotes several brands within the same market sector. This approach helps companies target all customer segments as different services with different marketing styles cater to every individual in their own way. One famous example of a multiple brand strategy is Meta (Facebook) – it owns Instagram and WhatsApp which are both mobile applications but don’t have the name mentioned in the brand’s title. Another example is FedEx which uses its brand in the title of each separate service such as FedEx Cargo, FedEx Office, etc.
Whether you use the same parent company name for your product or don’t want to mention the parent company in the title, all of these brands should be managed properly and, moreover, separately. A multi-brand marketing strategy allows businesses to ensure their brands are positioned and promoted within the same market addressing separate target audiences without creating internal competition.
Benefits of a Multi-Brand Strategy
Like any other strategy, multi-branding has its own advantages and downsides. Let’s start with the pros:
Better Brand Visibility
When your company is introduced in several market segments and targets different audiences, people are likely to see your name more often. And on top of more frequent public appearances, you’ll get a wider reach in general – more people will be able to explore your brands. As a result, you increase your brand awareness and sales.
Benefit From Previous Success
If your previous product is in demand and gains some traction within your target audience, your new brands and products can feed the success you’ve already achieved in the same or related market segment. Newly launched products from an already existing company are likely to be more visible to customers rather than a product introduced under an unknown name.
Risk Diversification
One of the main benefits of a multi-brand strategy, having various brands might help you diversify your business and reduce your risk. Your other brands can continue to generate money and maintain overall business stability even if one brand is having problems or seeing a fall in sales. By diversifying your business, you can prevent your company from relying too much on the success of a single brand.
More Options For Customers
Modern clients want to have more options and choices within a single market. When introducing new brands you give your customers an opportunity to switch between your products rather than leaving you for a different company. A good practice is also to smartly integrate your brands with each other so that when one product is bought, another one of your products can be bought as well as a supplement.
More Space For Experiments
More brands usually means more flexibility to create and experiment with your product/service line. You’ll have more freedom to take measured risks and investigate new options since if one brand’s innovation doesn’t provide the expected results, it won’t have a catastrophic effect on the entire organization.
Brand Diversification
Brand diversification mitigates certain risks by making sure that fluctuations in one segment don’t massively affect the overall stability of the business. It also allows you to cater to different consumer preferences, as you offer a range of products that meet varying tastes.
Customer Loyalty
When customers have positive experiences with one brand, they are more likely to trust and try other brands from the same company. You can use that by implementing loyalty programs that reward customers for purchasing across different brands, further encouraging them to stay within the brand ecosystem.
Price Differentiation
By offering distinct brands at different price points, you can attract a wider range of customers, from those seeking premium products to those looking for budget-friendly options. This helps with market penetration and allows for flexible pricing models that can respond to changing market conditions and consumer spending behaviors.
Resilience to Market Changes
Multi-branding almost guarantees that your company can maintain profitability and market presence in virtually any condition. For instance, during an economic downturn, you can shift its focus to brands that offer more affordable products, catering to budget-conscious consumers. Conversely, in times of prosperity, the focus can shift back to premium brands that attract higher spending.
Resource Optimization
Managing multiple brands also comes with shared efforts in marketing, research and development, and manufacturing. With this, you can achieve substantial cost savings and operational efficiencies. For instance, a single R&D team can work on innovations that benefit multiple brands, or a marketing team can create cohesive strategies that serve various customer segments.
Multi-Brand Strategy Disadvantages
Here are some struggles you may experience in your multi-brand marketing efforts:
Lack Of Focus
Having multiple brands inevitably comes with the need to divide resources and attention between them. If done right, it will never be a problem, however, many businesses have struggled to stay focused enough on the objectives of their individual brands. It can be difficult to devote enough money, effort, and knowledge to each brand, which could result in missed opportunities or less-than-ideal performance.
Increased Marketing Costs
Operating numerous brands also comes with an increased cost with regard to marketing and administration. Each brand needs its own marketing initiatives, brand building, distribution networks, and infrastructure for customer service. These expenses may mount, particularly in the absence of adequate economies of scale or resource sharing among the brands.
Cannibalization
When many brands within the same portfolio target comparable customer segments or provide comparable goods or services, there is a danger of cannibalization. Loss of market share and decreased profitability may result if the brands compete with one another rather than enhancing one another’s proposals. Additionally, managing too many brands can confuse consumers and diminish brand equity, making it more difficult to establish distinctive brand identities.
Loss Of Customer Trust
Sometimes businesses that implement multi-branding become more focused on profits rather than clients, resulting in potential reputational risks. If one brand in the portfolio suffers from a reputational problem or receives unfavorable press, it may have an effect on the parent company’s reputation and the trust of other related brands. Thus, reputation risk management and proactive monitoring are some of the most essential parts of multi-brand marketing.
How to Manage Multiple Brands to Succeed?
The advice here is clear and straightforward – marketing strategies for different brands should be created and implemented separately. When you introduce a new product to the market, it doesn’t mean that the marketing approach for your previous release will work. Here are some steps to follow with your multibranding marketing.
Define Brand Strategy
This is your step one – and it involves articulating clear objectives, defining target markets, and outlining key messaging for each brand within the portfolio. Only with a cohesive multiple branding strategy can you maintain brand consistency, which is crucial for maximizing the impact of marketing efforts across the portfolio.
Clear Brand Differentiation
Maintaining distinct and clearly differentiated brands is essential to avoid cannibalization and foster consumer preference within a multi-brand portfolio. Each brand should have a unique value proposition, target audience, and brand identity that sets it apart from other brands in the portfolio. This differentiation could be based on factors such as product attributes, price positioning, distribution channels, or brand personality.
Set Clear Objectives and KPIs
Your objectives should be specific, achievable, and aligned with the overall business goals, while KPIs should be quantifiable and relevant to each brand’s objectives. Common examples include metrics such as market share, brand awareness, customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and financial performance.
Conduct Market Research
Your market research should encompass both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including surveys, focus groups, competitor analysis, and trend forecasting. Good research is an absolute must if you want to keep up with market trends and consumer behavior. On top of that, you can identify untapped market segments and get valuable input for product development, pricing strategies, and marketing campaigns.
Create Landing Pages, Sites, and Domains
New brands require a proper presentation. If you want to launch a product using the same parent brand name, a separate landing page on the official site will be enough. However, if you are planning to introduce a product within an adjacent market, a new website is a must. It will allow you to attract as much attention from customers as possible, specifically to the new product. Along with the new site, your product will need a separate email domain to reach out to your clients and partners.
Connect Your Brands
Connecting existing and new brands into a multi-brand strategy allows you to leverage your current business capabilities and apply them to the new market segments. For instance, Instagram provides a possibility to connect your account with your Facebook profile, thus allowing your friends to find you in the new app. The same strategy can be applied to other types of products.
Cross-Promote Your Brands
Once you’ve connected your brands, figure out what they have in common and what makes them different from each other. Then use that knowledge to selectively cross-promote your brands, integrating them with each other not just in terms of functionality, but also marketing. Cross-promotion is great at utilizing existing brand loyalty and increasing interaction with other brands in your portfolio.
Create A Unique Message For Each Brand
Each of your brands needs to possess a distinguishable identity to stand out from the rest in its own way. Make sure that your messaging and communication style are tailored to that distinct identity. Create enticing multibranding narratives and value propositions that appeal to each brand’s target market by directly addressing customers’ problems and providing solutions.
Enable Marketing Automation
Marketing automation makes managing multiple brands look effortless. Such powerful solutions as Salesforce and HubSpot save a tremendous amount of time by automating routine tasks and providing full visibility of all the marketing processes. They also offer great analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing you to make informed decisions.
Some businesses may be put off by many difficulties that come with the integration of the software; however, marketing automation experts like OMI will make this process as smooth as possible and will be there with you every step of the way.
Create Impactful Ad Campaigns
New products should be powered by strong multi-brand marketing campaigns that address different market segments and audiences. Try not to rethink previously launched campaigns but rather create new ones aligned with your new business goals.
Incorporate Customer Feedback
Incorporating customer feedback into your brand management through surveys, social media monitoring, customer reviews, and customer service interactions. This feedback should be systematically analyzed and used for product innovation, service enhancements, and process improvements across each brand within the portfolio.
Implement Risk Management
Always work to identify potential threats associated with each brand, including market risks, operational risks, regulatory risks, and reputational risks. Based on your findings, you should then develop various risk mitigation strategies – those could be diversifying product portfolios, strengthening supply chain resilience, enhancing cybersecurity measures, or investing in brand reputation.
Make Use Of Analytics
Utilize data and analytics technologies to measure and assess the effectiveness of your multi-brand marketing initiatives. Keep an eye on KPIs like brand awareness, customer growth, engagement, and conversion rates. Make data-driven decisions and optimize your tactics with these insights.
Final Thoughts
So what is a multi-brand strategy? It is a crucial component of your business plan when launching various products into the same market. Multi-branding will help to improve your company’s overall marketing strategy as long as you are clear about what your new brand stands for and the demographic it is intended for.