Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

If nobody buys the corporate brand, there probably isn't much need to advertise and promote it. That's the old Procter & Gamble philosophy. If each customer buys a specific brand to satisfy a specific need, then the corporate brand is meaningless.

The one possible value of promoting the corporate brand is to impart some additional credibility, quality, or "good karma" to the individual brands. It's the Ford claim that "Quality is Job 1" applying to Taurus and the other Ford brands. It can reassure customers that the brands are trustworthy, etc.

The thing is that Ford is also the nameplate on all the cars and dealerships, so when they promote the corporate name they promote the whole line.

In recent years, P&G has advertised its corporate name as a sponsor of the Olympics in hopes that the good feelings communicated in commercials for one brand will carry over to the others. Not sure how much value it's adding. (Their common thread is that all the products provide an emotional payoff for Mom.)

Conglomerate umbrella advertising can benefit an organization in two ways:

1. If the corporate brand is known and has a good reputation, its image can benefit the individual brands. For example, in Las Vegas, the Wynn brand stands for quality and luxury in the leisure/entertainment/casino context, so individual brands beneath that banner would benefit from the association. In most cases this should augment -- not replace -- advertising done by the individual brands.

2. If a corporation is seeking Wall Street investors, then it can raise its profile and its stock price by advertising the well-known brands it controls in umbrella advertising. Many multi-brands employ this strategy to attract investors by presenting their strong portfolio. In this case, the individual brands are "evidence" for the corporate brand, and thus such advertising is best when focused in business and financial media, not consumer media.

Caveat: Some corporations are tempted to try umbrella advertising to consolidate their media spend across all brands. This is usually unwise, particularly in a challenged economy, because individual brands need to advertise tactical sales messages, which umbrella ads cannot do.

Hope this is helpful.

Yes there is. Multi-brand strategies need umbrella brand advertising to simulate awarness for the corporation as a whole. It provides stabilty to target markets by representing growth. If people gain good custom with one brand in liesure, they will use the same brand in entertainment because their is a connection which promotes positive experiences.