The umbrella brand structure is an example. Umbrella brand, its specificity. What determines the price of developing an umbrella brand

The process of simultaneously promoting a group of products under one brand. Let's talk about the pros and cons of this phenomenon. What is it for at all?

Umbrella brand

In the form of an umbrella brand, well-known names of manufacturers very often act, who decide to simultaneously promote new products.

The main advantage of this approach is the low cost of introducing new products and ease of distribution. Many companies, using the umbrella brand, are engaged in the release of goods that are not the main ones in their sales system. This is done for a reason, but for additional maintenance of the main brand. For example, such a move is often used: they produce crackers with the same name as beer. On the other hand, by combining several different products under one brand, the manufacturer reduces their recognition by people. And with a negative attitude of the consumer to one of the goods, trust in the entire brand as a whole disappears.

However, it is difficult to draw the line where the expansion of the product line ends and where the umbrella brand begins. The examples we have provided are proof of this. The production of dairy products, for example, under one brand is not called an umbrella brand by some marketers, they say, these are products of the same line. Others, on the contrary, consider it a classic of the genre. There is no consensus on this score.

What are the benefits of an umbrella brand?

The main advantage of using the umbrella approach is that a famous brand spends much less money to promote a new product under the same brand name. Marketers claim that you can save up to fifty percent. Moreover, they say that distribution is easier for umbrella goods. Any supermarket chain will more quickly take for sale a new product of a well-known brand than an unknown brand. Therefore, expanding a brand can increase its strength with more products on the shelves.

Many companies produce, under the guise of an umbrella brand, products that are not initially the main product in their sales. They do this deliberately to maintain the main brand. Almost all beer companies also produce crackers under their own brand (Klinskie, Bochkarev). In such cases, the task of the umbrella product is to remind consumers once again of the main product.

The umbrella brand provides an opportunity for some firms to circumvent the laws. How? It's very simple. Let's remember the umbrella brands of alcohol and tobacco. Their advertising is limited by law. However, they found a way out. For example, a liquor company has released the Flagship Mix drink and is quietly promoting it because it is low alcohol. But in the subconscious of people, this brand has long been associated with the Flagman vodka. By the way, the company's management does not hide the fact that it has developed such a move to advertise the main product.

Are there any drawbacks to this method?

The umbrella brand would be considered the best method, and all companies would switch to using it if it had only positive aspects. However, oddly enough, it also has its drawbacks.

The umbrella brand and its specificity are such that if the manufacturer uses it, then, in fact, puts all his finances in one "basket". If suddenly at least one product from this brand receives a negative assessment from buyers, then this will definitely affect the entire brand. After all, customer confidence is lost, the demand for products decreases, which means that the company will incur losses.

"Blurring" the brand

However, marketers believe this risk is less likely than brand dilution. What it is? This is a phenomenon in which the manufacturer incurs huge financial losses (marketing). This happens for the following reasons. It is not by chance that people prioritize certain products. This happens at the level of the senses. Both the image and the reputation of the company are important. Naturally, a certain brand is associated with a particular product. Expanding a line of products that are very different from each other will lead to a "dilution" of the brand.

It will no longer be associated with the main product. In order to avoid such a situation, manufacturers need to correctly develop the concept of an umbrella: do not take conflicting goods. For example, it is unrealistic to combine technology and cosmetics, food and household chemicals.

Two possible development paths

Every modern company periodically thinks about an umbrella brand. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, due to tough competition in the modern market, all manufacturers, even very successful ones, are revising their marketing strategy so that their positions do not weaken.

Secondly, going according to the plan, companies strive to be leaders in several market segments at once. In this case, marketers come up with and develop a new brand or use an old brand for new products. It is believed that an umbrella brand is the most economical and quickest way to introduce a new product to the market.

Two strategies

Marketers talk about two strategies for creating an umbrella brand. The first involves expanding the manufacturer's assortment, because consumers love variety, which is why companies with a wide range of products are always the most competitive. In this case, what does the umbrella brand mean? These are additional tastes, colors, varieties of goods. For example, the chocolate maker Alpen Gold is constantly adding new flavors to its product line.

The second strategy involves the release of products from different categories under the same brand. For example, the MTS brand meant cellular communications. Recently, however, mobile phones have been launched under this delusion.

Modern realities dictate their terms

In the modern market, according to experts, it is impossible to remain a leader if you produce one product or brand. Therefore, marketers are increasingly using the umbrella brand. The examples given in the article demonstrate the irrepressible imagination of trade specialists who offer many options based on the "umbrella". However, all companies that decide to take advantage of this when expanding their product line need to be very careful. We must always remember that marketing practice suggests that an umbrella brand can bring not only success, but also become a financial collapse of the company.

When deciding to use this method of product promotion, you should weigh the pros and cons, assess all the risks.

Market conditions are constantly changing, and therefore manufacturers have to skillfully maneuver. Consider, for example, how recently the advertising of alcoholic beverages was restricted. Umbrella brands of tobacco also got there. However, manufacturers will not stop releasing their goods from this. Marketers will develop new strategies to promote products and stay afloat.

Instead of an afterword

The specialists' attitude to the umbrella brand is rather ambiguous. Some consider it a very good solution for successful activities, while others are categorically against using it. There are a number of companies that adhere to a mono-brand strategy, such as Procter & Gamble. They are more likely to be engaged in the production of a niche product for a narrow audience than to use the "umbrella".

Although foreign brands are very active in practice, they use umbrella branding. Even in the world of fashion and beauty, he is very popular. Let us recall such eminent companies as Hugo Boss, Gucci, Dior, which produce all their goods (underwear, clothing, accessories, perfumes) under one brand. Here the choice is behind the management of the company.

An umbrella brand is a brand under which several products of different characteristics are launched on the market. An umbrella brand is the opposite of a mono-brand that defines a single product variant. In any case, the umbrella brand arises as a result of the expansion of the assortment and serves to structure it in the eyes of the consumer, to transfer the positive properties of one or several products to new ones.

There are three approaches to understanding what an umbrella brand is. They can be called "mother", "linear" and "elemental". The first approach is when the name of the manufacturing company is considered the umbrella brand. More precisely, it is a parent, or base, brand. It is also called Asian: there are many Japanese and Korean firms (Sony, Panaconic, LG, etc.) among the supporters of this approach. In the early stages, any umbrella brand must receive the support of the base (parent) brand so that the buyer can be confident in the quality of the new brand. The umbrella brand then gains its own reputation and customer base. In this case, the base brand can remain on the packaging of the goods to designate the company, place of origin or address of production of the goods, etc. The second approach is when one name applies to the entire product line in different market segments. Then it is actually a line brand (line brand). For example, the cosmetic brands Nivea and Faberlic are several lines: skin care, hair care, decorative cosmetics, etc. It is logical to use the term "line brand" when new varieties or slightly different novelties are added to existing products. The advantage of the line brand is that the very existence of a line of products on the shelves attracts the attention of buyers without requiring additional advertising materials. A brand is called elemental if a company name element is used in the product name (for example, Nescafe, Nestea, Nesquik from Nestle). The umbrella brand has certain advantages over mono brands, the main one of which is that it is much cheaper to promote a new product under a well-known brand than to launch a new independent brand; in addition, it is easier and cheaper for a manufacturer to arrange distribution of a new product under an umbrella brand. So, the retail network is more likely to take on the implementation of a new product released by the owner of a well-known brand, rather than an unreported brand.

Many companies release goods under the umbrella brand that are obviously not the main ones in their sales structure. This is done for additional support of the base brand, up to hidden advertising: for example, a well-known vodka or cognac brand places an advertisement for a soft drink or candy, which de facto is not in any store. There is an obvious deception of the consumer: under the guise of one product, a completely different one is being promoted, which is prohibited to advertise. Such activities should become the subject of antitrust investigations. But the umbrella brand also has certain drawbacks. First of all, any expansion of the brand's coverage can erode its positive perception. By releasing an umbrella brand, the manufacturer assumes an additional risk and puts all of his “branded” capital into one basket. If at least one product from the umbrella brand is negatively perceived by the target audience, this will affect the brand as a whole. In addition, according to some researchers, brand credibility, grown on a particular product or product line, can be transferred to other products and especially the “line” of no more than 30% of customers. Finally, it is especially dangerous if difficultly compatible goods are combined into a single umbrella brand, for example, perfumes and insecticides: "You cannot harness a horse and a quivering doe in one cart." And the name of the brand itself often limits its use, for example, the brand “33 cows” is normally perceived only for dairy products and is not suitable for bottled water. In addition, some marketers generally believe that brand expansion does not so much save on advertising costs as it leads to their disproportionate growth. It is relatively easy for a client to remember one product under a specific name, but to combine two or more products under one name, and even to perceive the connection between them, can be much more difficult. Sometimes there are "faulty purchases" and then backlash from consumers. The most successful brands also have their drawbacks. Perhaps the biggest threat is the risk of them becoming the equivalent of the product category as a whole. This has happened with brands such as cellophane and escalator, and the same is happening before our very eyes with the Xerox brand: the company is forced to wage endless legal wars in order to avoid turning its brand into a product category name. In Russia, the most popular is the promotion of a product brand corresponding to a certain type of offered product. The retail sector is increasingly using the opportunity to create an umbrella brand under its own trademarks.

The concept of "umbrella brand" has recently come into our use. What does it mean, what are its distinctive features, This is what this article will be devoted to.

In order to correctly understand the essence of the issue, it is necessary to know the meanings of the basic concept of this PR area, namely, the brand. This term is usually understood as a certain conventional graphic image or letter designation of the manufacturer of a particular product. Marketing specialists as a stable symbolic perception among the consumer. It is this feature of the human psyche that determines the positive perception of some goods and the stable rejection of others.

An umbrella brand assumes an effective and systematic "promotion" of several types of products under one well-known logo. It so happened that a consumer who is confident in the quality of one product of a well-known manufacturer is more likely to purchase another if he sees a familiar sign or the name of the manufacturer on it. For example,

a company that produces baby food, confectionery, tea and coffee, known to us under various trade names, is an umbrella brand. A striking example of this can be the brands Nestle, Swarzkopf, Coca-cola, Danon and many others.

Types of brands

Today, there are several varieties of the brand:

Autonomous. It is designed for one product or product, although there may be several variations in the lineup. For example, a Bounty bar.

Light. This version assumes the addition of a slightly modified product to the product series (limited edition of Pepsi-Cola of an unusual blue color). At the same time, a further increase in the varieties of goods is not required.

Brand with extension. This strategy allows the manufacturer to release under a pre-existing name. For example, new collections of bags of a famous brand. There can be as many as you like, but the name remains unchanged.

Linear. This variety determines the presence of several products in the product line, united by one purpose (hair care series: shampoos, rinses, hair masks, etc.).

Umbrella brand. It is sometimes called "pivotal". Its essence is in the production of products for a wide range of purposes, from toilet paper to professional cosmetics or even clothes and shoes, for example. Such a strategy can only be afforded by a company that is already popular and trusted by consumers.

Benefits of a Seating Brand

The main benefits of an umbrella brand marketing campaign are:

Simplified scheme of product popularization due to brand awareness;

Reducing the cost of bringing products to market. No large-scale expensive brand advertising or search for an original name for a new product is required: the client will recognize the product by a familiar logo or manufacturer's name;

Increase in sales due to a large number of products for various purposes.

Negative sides

The umbrella brand has a rather significant drawback, which is the flip side of its advantages: a logo similar to the well-known designation or symbol of a popular brand is often used by fraudsters to produce counterfeit products of low quality. Disappointed with a fake, the buyer can transfer negative perceptions to all the manufacturer's products as a whole.

If a company has successfully launched its trademark on the market, it is often tempted: why not start producing other categories of goods under an already popular brand? The result is an umbrella brand. However, the outcome of such experiments is difficult to predict.

Expanding boundaries

As competition intensifies, every company, even the most successful, is forced to revise its marketing strategy and think about how to strengthen its position. According to many experts, it is impossible to contain the onslaught of competitors with only one product and brand. Exit? either expand the boundaries of an existing brand, or bring a new one to the market. And sometimes do both.

If a company chooses to expand the brand, then it occurs, as a rule, in two main directions. Manufacturers are trying to play on the consumers' love for diversity and offer them line extention: additional flavors of a familiar product, a different package size, a new color, etc. For example, PepsiCo has released a blue drink, and the J7 juice brand offers up to 20 different tastes.

Another strategy to gain consumer confidence? expansion of the brand itself (brand extention), which means the release of goods of different categories under one brand. In fact, this is the umbrella brand. Thus, under the brand name "Ryzhiy Up" cheese curds, yoghurts, fruit mixes, juices, etc. are sold. And the company "Petrosoyuz" under the brand name "Dream of the Hostess" produces dumplings, vegetable oil, mayonnaise, margarine.

But where exactly does the expansion of the line end and the beginning of the umbrella brand? a controversial issue, and every marketer has his own opinion on this matter. Some, for example, believe that the release of milk, kefir and curd cheeses under the same brand should not be called an umbrella brand, since they belong to the same product group? milk products. Others, on the contrary, call it the classic "umbrella". There is no unambiguous opinion about whether the release under the Ariel brand, owned by the Procter & Gamble company, is an "umbrella" for washing powder and gel.

However, as the general director of the Brand New Brand agency Alexei Sukhenko says, the terminology should not be approached too strictly. Much more important is the question of how useful these extensions are to the manufacturer. And here again there are very different opinions. Oleg Beriev, general director of Mildberry agency: “There are two categories of people among specialists? supporters of the "umbrella" and its opponents, who stand for separate mono-brands. Each has its own arguments for and against, but most likely both are right? As practice shows, it all depends on the market situation. But even under the same conditions, an umbrella strategy can lead to both marketing and financial success and a huge failure.

Advantages

The main advantage of the umbrella strategy is that if you have a well-known brand, then the promotion of a new product under the same brand will require much less funds than launching a new independent brand. Ekaterina Dvornikova,? In competitive markets (beer, mayonnaise, confectionery, etc.), the cost of launching a new trademark can be $ 1.5-2 million. And this is only for advertising. And you still need to pay retail chains for shelf space, spend money on merchandising, introduce consumers to a new product, etc. But you can save half of this amount, or even more, if you make an umbrella brand ?.

These data are confirmed, for example, by Victoria Kyufaryan, director of customer service at Twiga Advertising: “We were developing and marketing cosmetics under the Faberlic brand. From the very beginning, it was decided to create an "umbrella": the cosmetic market is oversaturated with brands, and it is difficult for new ones to survive here. In addition, the "umbrella" allowed to save at least 30-40% of funds for brand promotion? Evgeny Artemiev, head of the external communications department at Bystrov, also noted that having an umbrella is beneficial: I think that if we were promoting several brands, and not one, it would require much more investment. "Umbrella" allows us to spend more efficiently ?.

How are the savings achieved? As the general director of the agency Media First, Yuri Malinin, explains, the umbrella brand extends a certain quality mark and reputation to all the products it combines. That is, it essentially endorses every new product it includes. The marketing director of the advertising group Depot WPF Vasily Mitko argues as follows: If people have already formed the feeling that, for example, Nestle? high-quality and tasty chocolate, this perception can be "stretched" on cookies and waffles. In addition, are consumers more willing to try a new product for themselves under an already familiar brand than a brand to which they have nothing to do? neither good nor bad ?.

Do some marketers think that umbrella brands have another advantage over mono brands? it is easier for the manufacturer to arrange their distribution. Thus, a retail network is more likely to accept for sale a new product released by the owner of a well-known brand than a completely untouched brand. Therefore, a successful brand expansion can be beneficial not only from a financial point of view. It has the ability to increase the strength of the donor brand through greater presence on the shelves.

Many companies release products under the umbrella brand that are not necessarily the main ones in their sales structure. This is done to provide additional support for the main brand. Thus, most of the beer companies sell crackers under their own brands (Bochkarev, Klinskie, etc.). Happyland has also developed the Trophy series of rye croutons in addition to its low-alcohol juice cocktails of the same name. In this case, the umbrella product will once again remind consumers of the parent brand.

Do umbrella brands give some firms another opportunity? bypass the law restricting alcohol advertising. For example, the Russian Wine and Vodka Company has released the Flagman Mix low-alcohol drink and is actively promoting it. However, in the minds of consumers, the image of this brand is associated primarily with Flagman vodka. However, the company does not hide the fact that it launched the "umbrella" specifically to promote the main product.

Flaws

Probably, if the situation with umbrella brands were unambiguously positive, then companies would have reoriented to this strategy long ago. However, the advantages of the umbrella brand are more than offset by its shortcomings.

Thus, when releasing an umbrella brand, a manufacturer essentially puts all his "branded" capital into one basket. If at least one product from the "umbrella" is negatively perceived by the target audience, this will affect the brand as a whole.

Alexei Sukhenko cited as an example from his point of view, the wrong approach to the formation of an umbrella, the history of the brand "My family". The Petrosoyuz company bought the right to manufacture a number of products under this brand (mayonnaise, ketchup, dumplings, etc.) from the host of the TV show "My Family" Valery Komissarov. The owners of "Petrosoyuz" just liked the phrase, but did not want the consumer to associate it with the TV program? many did not like it, which could negatively affect the brand. Did they try to "detach" from the title of the show? invented their own logo, carried out an advertising campaign, but despite high-quality products, they could not overcome the negative influence of the parent brand. Alexey Sukhenko: "Petrosoyuz" tried to buy a piece of the common brand "My family", but nothing came of it. It's the same as if we took a regular umbrella, cut off a flap from it and tried to protect ourselves from the rain. Because of this mistake, did you have to spend money later to bring another brand to the market? "Dream of the hostess".

Another argument against was brought by an ardent opponent of the "umbrellas" Mikhail Dymshits, general director of the agency "Dymshits and Partners". He believes that brand extention, in principle, does not lead to anything good: “When expanding its brand, the company proceeds from the assumption that consumer confidence in this brand in one product group will spread to another. In general, this is true, but the manufacturer can count on only 10% of consumers of the main product and about the same number of customers who only consume the "extension" of the brand ?. In support of his opinion, Mikhail Dymshits referred, in particular, to his own data. A study conducted by his agency for a large Western cosmetics company (it produces goods under a common umbrella brand) revealed the following: the probability that a person who bought one item from an umbrella later bought the second did not exceed 30%. "So that for the same money, or even cheaper, it would be possible to bring several mono-brands to the market" ,? says Mr. Dymshits.

There is another objection. For example, some marketers deny that brand expansion can save on advertising costs. "On the contrary, this requires a disproportionate increase in advertising costs," says Mikhail Dymshits. "For a consumer to remember that the best product of a certain group has a specific name, you need about 100 GRP (gross rating point; a numerical indicator used to assess the effectiveness of an advertising campaign). And in order for him to remember two objects, and even the connection between them, it will take already 400 GRP. That is, advertising costs increase several times. "

Some experts argue that brand expansion leads to an increase in so-called wrong purchases, which is not the best way for the brand's image. The consumer purchases up to 200 items per week and is not able to carefully read all the labels. First of all, he makes the usual purchases and focuses on the familiar packaging. However, it may contain a completely different product. Perhaps someone will be delighted with the new product. But the majority of buyers are conservative, and most likely, purchasing the "wrong" product will cause irritation. One of our colleagues, for example, recently bought a shampoo in a supermarket. Only at home did the woman find out that the bottle contains hair balm. The shampoo and balm differed only in the color of the cap. According to her, she felt cheated. It is quite possible that next time the customer will prefer a different brand altogether.

The wider the narrower

However, the main danger of the "umbrella"? risk of brand dilution. According to marketers, consumers prefer strong brands not only because product quality is guaranteed. The main ingredient for success is their non-functional value to the client? faith based on emotions and feelings. Therefore, expansion should in no way conflict with the existing brand image, that is, the concept of an "umbrella" must correspond to the positioning of the donor brand. Vasily Mitko: One of the functions of the brand? make the choice more simplified and mechanistic. For example, want a beer? buying a Tinkoff, want some juice? take J7. Extension of the same J7, for example, to the category of "muesli" will already bring chaos into the consciousness of the consumer. If we try to “stretch” the “umbrella” into several fundamentally different categories, then the positioning will be blurred more and more, and the consumer’s mind will become even less clear?

So a blurred brand is losing its power, and competitors can take advantage of it. To avoid this, you need to carefully approach the selection of new commodity items for the "umbrella". If the categories are different, it is more difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to extend the "umbrella" to them. Has already become a textbook example? the failure of the Dovgan umbrella brand, under which more than 200 different products were produced? from vodka to cookies. This was a mistake, despite the fact that the production of vodka brought a decent income for the company. Alcoholic brands, as a rule, are mono-brands, and it is impractical to sell any other product under them (except for pickles). Oleg Beriev: Is it unlikely that Comet can become a good mayonnaise in the mind of a consumer, and cosmetics from LG? to please true fashionistas. At the same time, "Bystrov" breakfast cereals (muesli and "Dreams" cornflakes)? a more justified move, since cereals and breakfast cereals? categories are close ?.

However, there are exceptions to the rules, and among the wide "umbrellas" there are successful ones. For example, Virgin, founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, brings together an airline and railroad company, CD supermarkets, publishing, perfumery, cosmetics, clothing, soft drinks, etc. under one brand. However, all these incompatible things are firmly held the general idea of ​​the brand: where is Virgin ,? fun, a certain spirit and lifestyle. Alexei Sukhenko: In Russia, there is still little reason to make such wide "umbrellas". But the potential is undoubtedly there. For example, the cartoon heroine Masyanya? good character for "umbrella". Masyanya? easygoing, easy character, a little cynical. This image can be extended to different product categories. In addition, large retail chains have the opportunity to make "umbrellas", that is, to release goods under their own trade marks (private label). For example, some of them (Ramstore, Crossroads) are already doing this?

Instructions for using the "umbrella"

Whether a company needs an umbrella brand needs to be decided in terms of its plans and market conditions. For example, in the juice market there are mainly mono-brands with linear expansion, in beer? too. But the markets for confectionery, frozen food, dairy? mostly umbrella. Meat products? also umbrella, but it is not individual brands that are promoted there, but the general brand of the manufacturing plant.

As marketers say, you shouldn't expand your brand into those product categories where there are already strong competing brands: the risk of failure is very high. In addition, in this case, the cost of promotion will simply eat up the possible savings associated with the use of the "umbrella". And if a certain market is still seriously interested in the company from the point of view of making a profit, then it is better to launch a new independent brand.

In case the company decides to release an "umbrella", the technology may look like this.

First, in order to make a brand an umbrella brand, its name and graphic design must be suitable for this. For example, the 33 Cows brand is difficult to stretch across to anything other than dairy products.

Secondly, it makes sense to register your brand in different product categories, even if you are not going to launch these products. Otherwise, some companies may be tempted to cling to a strong brand and make an "umbrella" without the permission of its owner. For example, a few years ago the Baltika beer company was in litigation with the Metatabak company, which decided to produce Baltika cigarettes. Now, they say, "Baltika" has registered its own brand in the category of "condoms" (and British Virgin has patented its own even in the class of coffins).

Third, the decision to expand a brand must be made when it has already taken a strong position in the market. According to Aleksey Sukhenko, it is desirable that the brand awareness among the target audience should be at least 50%.

However, is the brand too strong? for example, master brand (which is associated with a certain product category; say, Xerox brand? with copiers, and Coca Cola? with soft drinks)? hardly suitable for an "umbrella". According to marketers, in this case, any expansion of the brand will weaken its position. So, the history of Xerox? a classic example of how not to do it. The company was the leader in the copier category, but decided to release computers under its own brand, although there were already very strong brands in this market, such as IBM. As a result, Xerox significantly weakened its positions, and then they had to be restored. Now Xerox positions itself only as the document company. It is curious that at one time IBM tried, in turn, to get into the copier market, but nothing came of this venture.

Fourth, you need to define the boundaries of brand expansion and understand what makes sense to release in addition to the main product. This will be helped by research results that provide an answer to the question of how products are grouped in the minds of consumers. Typically, marketers use mathematical methods such as cluster analysis. For example, some studies show that in the perception of people, ketchup is closer to tkemali sauce, and not to mayonnaise, but waffles in chocolate? to chocolate, not cookies. Yekaterina Dvornikova: One Western author gives an example when a toilet paper company tried to launch paper napkins under this brand as well, but as a result lost its position in both markets. The fact is that from a production point of view, these are related goods, but from the point of view of consumers, they are different.

After the company has decided on a new product, it is necessary to master the production technology and develop packaging. According to Yuri Malinin, General Director of the Media First agency, the packaging of all goods does not have to be literally repeated, the main thing is that it be designed in the same style.

Finally, another important question? how to promote an umbrella brand? Are there several options? say, to promote the brand as a whole or some particular position. Which one will turn out to be the best, it is impossible to answer unequivocally. Mikhail Dymshits, for example, believes that it is necessary to promote one thing, more precisely, the strongest position of the brand: “It is necessary to advertise the best-selling product in the" umbrella ", the rest will not be able to compete with it. And general image advertising is less effective. We must proceed from the fact that the consumer is inattentive, greedy and lazy, and if he was not directly told in the advertisement what to buy, then he won’t buy?

But, as we said, even if everything is done correctly, the result is still unpredictable. Victoria Kyufaryan, Twiga Advertising: “The success or failure of a brand does not depend on whether it is an umbrella or an independent one. It depends on the product itself and its quality, positioning, advertising strategy, packaging and a whole range of other nuances. Maybe the positioning was chosen incorrectly, or maybe the stars are just like that?

What are "umbrellas"

There are three approaches to the umbrella strategy. First? when one name covers the entire product line in different market segments. For example, the cosmetic brands Nivea and Faberlic? these are several lines: for skin care, hair care, decorative cosmetics, etc. Second? when the name of the manufacturing company becomes the umbrella brand. It is also called Asian: there are many Japanese and Korean firms (Sony, Panaconic, LG, etc.) among the supporters of this approach. Third? when a company name element is used in the product name (for example, Nescafe, Nestea, Nesquik from Nestle).

Umbrella by western couturiers

Anton Parygin

The practice of umbrella branding is popular with many foreign manufacturers, for example, in the modeling business. Such well-known companies as Christian Dior, Hugo Boss, Gucci, etc., all products (clothing, perfumery, leather goods, jewelry) are produced under one brand. Umbrella brands are also used by the largest sports clubs, because fans are ready to buy everything that has the logo of their favorite team: from sports uniforms and paraphernalia to confectionery.

Until 2001, Internet portal Lycos, which owns numerous value-added services (Hotbot, Tripod, Gamesville, etc.), operated them as independent brands. However, the managers of the portal decided that the cost of promoting a dozen trade marks does not justify itself at all and it is easier to have one umbrella brand. This is the development strategy that Yahoo! ? the main competitor to Lycos, which allowed him to seize the market leadership.

Meanwhile, the umbrella approach also has opponents who build their portfolio exclusively from mono-brands, for example Procter & Gamble. In addition, according to Victoria Kyufaryan of Twiga Advertising, “One of the latest trends in the Western market is the pursuit of 'niche' products for a narrow audience (for example, products for left-handers or for women over 45). There are fewer brands in these niches. weaker competition and lower promotion costs. Accordingly, mono brands are more common here. "

When we talk about an umbrella brand, we mean goods and / and services belonging to different categories, but presented under the same brand.

Today, there are three forms of the umbrella brand: a company and products with one, single name, the use of names with similar or identical elements, adding a prefix, using an initial letter, and so on, and placing the company name on all products to enhance quality assurance, as additional labeling ...

The emergence of umbrella brands is usually driven by market competition. Even manufacturing giants are forced to rethink their marketing strategy to develop new moves. Faced with problems of this level, the enterprise has two alternative directions of development: the development of a new brand or the expansion of the line of an already promoted brand.

Thus, there are two main development strategies applied in practice. The first is to expand the assortment, based on the fact that the consumer prefers products with a wide range of choices, since, trusting the manufacturer, without hesitation, he switches from one taste to another. An example of using this strategy is Mondelez International, whose trademark "Alpen Gold" has more than twenty chocolate flavors in its assortment, ice creams - four flavors, as well as cookies, bars and candies that bear the same name. The second strategy involves the release of completely different categories of goods or services under the same name: MTS has bought out a network of banks.

Advantages:

The main support for a new product or service is to enter the market under the auspices of a well-known brand, primarily because of consumer confidence, and as a consequence of its reputation and quality mark.

The positive side of the umbrella brand is the lower amount of costs compared to launching a new brand on the market; according to the estimates of the research agency "RBKdaily", costs vary by an average of 40%. This is why manufacturers choose the umbrella business expansion strategy, as the physical, tangible and intangible costs of a new independent brand exceed the expected return.

The next reason for the transition to the umbrella brand is the company's decision to produce goods that are unusual for them (for example: a beer manufacturer starts selling crackers, dried fish, and so on under its own brand name). Typically, such a marketing strategy is chosen by organizations to maintain the main brand, as the company aims to increase the recognition and visibility of the "parent" brand.

Also, when choosing a business development strategy, the distribution factor plays an important role: trade enterprises would rather prefer products with a well-known brand than a product with a new name.

Flaws:

There are a number of risks that an organization must consider when deciding to launch a new category of product on the market under one brand. In the case of an umbrella brand, there is a possibility that the consumer will not accept one product from the line presented by the company, which will lead to a decrease in demand for the products of this brand, the loss of the client and losses.

Another possible risk when choosing this marketing strategy is brand dilution, which will lead the organization to significant marketing and financial losses. As a rule, when choosing a product, a consumer is based on an emotional-sensory consciousness, that is, trust in a product is based on visual perception. If a manufacturer brings radically different products to the market under a single brand, this can lead to a dilution of the brand and a loss of trust. That is why, when building an umbrella brand, you should avoid conflicting products (for example: dairy products and household chemicals).