Brand proliferation pdf

It is important to know the difference between brand proliferation and brand extension. Brand extensions result from new product lines being introduced to a brand that already exists under that same brand name. Brand proliferation deals with one company having one product line and multiple items being introduced under different brand names for the same product line.

Now that we understand the difference between brand extensions and proliferation, let us discuss some of the challenges and opportunities associated with proliferation. We have so many options available to us at any given time that sometimes it is difficult to make a firm decision. When consumers are trying to decide between very similar products to choose from, it can lead to confusion due to unclarity and overload. Marketers are always looking to make a product stand out to consumers.

It can be challenging to do that when there are so many similar products sharing the same space. They acquire, expand into new markets and adjacent industry verticals, and develop new products and services.

Along with the acquisitions come business brands, product brands and product portfolios that come with yet other names. The perniciousness of this affliction is not to be underestimated. It happens gradually. Things still feel the same internally although the business itself is undergoing quite profound change. The corporation, rather than being a coherent, unified entity, becomes an archipelago or confederacy of smaller, self-directed, self-justifying businesses. And this either stems from or results in a strategic vacuum at the center.

Absent centralized executive guidance on the matter, branding becomes a small, unregulated business, with predictably chaotic results. At a level or two below the C-Suite, brand proliferation takes hold because there is no central gatekeeper or mechanism to oversee, manage, evaluate and shape brands into a coherent portfolio of business assets.

There are no systems to guide execution and monitor performance. There are no rules and no enforcers. What is the antidote to this? It can be seen in the reverse image of this cautionary tale.