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The Proliferation of Choice

In the early days of brand management, there were fewer options in the market across the board—fewer categories, fewer brands within those categories, and fewer alternatives within any given brand. Today more competitors are going to market with more brands than ever before. A more crowded and competitive marketplace makes it infinitely harder for brands to stand out from the pack.

The specific components of a comprehensive brand portfolio strategy vary based on the company in question and the nature of its business. However, brand strategists agree, most portfolios should (at minimum) address the four key questions outlined and discussed in this post.

Simply defined, a brand portfolio is the collection of brands owned by a company. Often for big companies, more and more brands are created to reach more and more audiences. While targeting more audiences sounds like a great way to build and grow a company, too many brands can cause confusion about each individual brand’s role – and eventually the corporate identity as a whole. The problem many companies face is thinking more brands will make them more successful, however. they lack the architecture and the ability to manage a multiplicity of brands well.