Every business strives to acquire the biggest share of it’s targeted market. Whether a company merges with a different brand or is planning to launch a new product to the market under a different brand name, multi-branding marketing comes in handy. In this article, we will explain the basics of the multi-brand strategy and share some tips on how to successfully implement it for your business.
What Is a Multi-Branding Strategy?
The multi-branding strategy refers to the company’s approach to introducing different brands or products within the same market segment under a different or same company name. For instance, Facebook owns Instagram and WhatsUp which are both mobile applications but don’t have the name mentioned in the brand’s title. Another example is FedEx that 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.
Multi-Brand Marketing Pros & Cons
Like any other strategy, multi-branding has its own advantages and downsides. Let’s start with the pros:
- Better visibility. When your company is introduced in several market segments and targets different audiences, people are likely to see your name more often. As a result, you increase your brand awareness and sales.
- Benefit from previously gained success. If your previous product is in demand and gained popularity among your target audience, your new brands and products can feed with 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.
- Additional 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.
- Benefit from the existing customer database. When introducing a new product, your company can first start reaching out to existing customers from your contact database. These are your potential buyers who already have a good impression of your business and products.
As for the disadvantages, here are some problems you might face when managing multiple brands:
- Cannibalization.This is one of the major problems every company faces when addressing multi-branding. A proper differentiation strategy for each product separately should solve the issue.
- Loss of trust for the brand. Sometimes businesses that implement multi-branding become more focused on profits rather than clients. As a result, devoted customers might lose their trust for the company and find a better alternative with more attractive pricing.
How to Manage Multiple Brands to Succeed?
The advice here is clear and straightforward – marketing strategy 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 multi-branding marketing.
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 maximum attention from potential customers 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 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 the Facebook profile, thus allowing your friends to find you in the new app. The same strategy can be applied to other types of products.
Enable Marketing Automation
When managing multiple brands, don’t get lost in multiple campaigns, subscriptions, contacts, etc. Marketing automation platforms such as 366 Degrees help companies to streamline their marketing processes making things easier for marketing and sales teams. 366 Degrees has recently introduced a multiple domain feature that offers platform users the ability to add several email domains for different brands, as well as managing campaigns and subscriptions for each brand separately.
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.
Final Thoughts
Multi-brand marketing is an important part of your business strategy when it comes to launching different products to the same or adjacent markets. As long as you have a clear idea of what your new brand represents and what audience it targets, multi-branding will work to enhance your company’s overall marketing strategy.