Know-How Exchange : Branding

When each brand has the same target audience and the same positioning benefit, then a single corporate brand would probably work fine, and probably cost less in initial marketing efforts. (This might occur when the only difference is the distribution channel, for example ... or different packaging, liquid vs. solid, etc.)

However when you have different target audiences, with different needs, and/or you're providing different core benefits with each brand, then individual brands are far more likely to be effective as a branding strategy.

Remember that a brand is a promise ... a promise to deliver certain promised benefits to a clearly identified audience. If you use a brand identity for multiple audiences, or to represent different benefits for different people, you'll confuse everyone and undermine your own objective to establish a valuable brand franchise.

I'm not sure I understand SharkWriter!'s point. The size of the company shouldn't have anything to do with which approach you select for your branding strategy.

There are large companies that use the P&G approach (i.e., each brand stands on its own, no reference to the parent), and there are large companies that use the corporate-brand approach (e.g., FedEx, Dell, IBM, Del Monte, Amazon, etc.). And there are small companies that follow different approaches too.

There are even large companies that do both -- create strong individual brand franchises AND clearly promote a corporate brand at the same time. (Examples: Frito-Lay, Playtex, Nabisco, Kraft, etc.)

If size is a factor, it's because smaller companies are less likely to have a broad range of products, target many different market segments, or provide substantially different benefits to each segment. It's not the size per se that determines the branding strategy.

In fact, I could make the case that a strong brand positioning strategy (for individual brands) is MORE important for a small company, because it doesn't have as many ways to amortize the cost of a parent-brand marketing effort and should focus its resources on the individual brands and their unique [individual] benefits.

If the various products form a product line or the customer is likely to buy others products in the line, then by all means a single brand makes good sense - the money you spend to establish the brand and get the first product sold will help second sale as well.

You mean, which strategy suits best for your business.
Corporate Branding
Product specific branding.

Well it depends on the business nature and worth too.
Corporate branding is the strategy in which all the company's brands are under the corporate name.
Like Nestle, Ford, Honda, Gillette.

In corporate/family branding, new products or brands when attached to the family brand, their secondry associations are leveraged. This strategy is suited best when company has good market share and high image. It also depends on company's good will. What customers think about the company brand and associate with what?
Usually corporate branding is cost affective and works best when dealing in a similar product lines or sector.

Product branding needs extensive search and advertising. Because here you are going to lanuch a new brand for the specif product/product category. So you need to do advertising expenses, marketing promotions so that you can build a good brand image into the minds of customers.

However you can start by building a corporate brand under which your existing product categories arr fall. Then in future if you want to do brand extention or diversify your business you can move to new brands too as Coca Cola did. Minute Maid, Fanta, 3G.

So think on it....your resources, identify customers and do market research and competition search.

If you want to live within a product category like beverages or electronics. Then it is better to start from corporate branding.
LG, Panasonic, Sony, Haier are successful brands (corporate branding) in electronics.