Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control, Third Edition

all the products may suffer. Virgin has used the corporate brand name

across their entire product portfolio. Their high profile problems with the

Virgin rail franchise in the UK may over time have a negative impact

across their other operations. The fact this does not yet appear to have

happened is a testament to the strength of the core brand name.

● Multi-brand: Multi-branding or discreet branding is the complete oppos-

ite of the corporate branding approach. With multi-branding each

product is given its own unique brand name. The aim is to build com-

pletely separate brand identities. This is appropriate, if the organisation

is competing in a number of different segments and the consumers’

perceptions of a product’s position in one segment may adversely

affect the consumers’ perceptions of another product. A classic example

of this approach would be Proctor & Gamble who produce a range of

washing powders aimed at discreet sectors of the market such as Daz,

Ariel and Bold.

202 Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control

Corporate brand

Range brand

Company and individual

brand

Generic brand Multi-brand

Increasing emphasis on the differentiation of the

product or service

Increasing emphasis on the origin of the product or service

Figure 9.12
Alternative branding strategies (Source: Adapted from Kapferer, 1997)