Individual branding, also called individual product branding, flanker brands or

multibranding, is the marketing strategy of giving each product in a portfolio its own unique
brand name. This contrasts with family branding, corporate branding, and umbrella branding in
which the products in a product line are given a single overarching brand name. The advantage
of individual branding is that each product has an image and identity that is unique. This
facilitates the positioning of each product, by allowing a firm to position its brands differently.

Examples of individual product branding include Procter & Gamble, which markets multiple
brands such as Pampers, and Unilever, which markets individual brands such as Dove. Mobile
phone companies often use flanker brands to offer the same service plans to different markets.
For example, Bell Mobility uses the Virgin Mobile brand as a flanker to market to young
urbanites.

An umbrella brand is where a group of products possesses the same brand name. Different
products having different images are put together under one major brand or parent brand and are
marketed by the firm. Umbrella branding does not mean that the whole product portfolio of a
firm will fall under one brand name as company can go for different approaches of branding for
different product lines.[1]

Some examples are Johnson & Johnson baby care products and Tata tea, automobiles and salt.

Corporate branding is the practice of using a company's name as a product brand name. It is an
attempt to use corporate brand equity to create brand recognition. It is a type of family branding
or umbrella brand. Disney, for example, includes the word "Disney" in the name of many of its
products; other examples include IBM and Heinz. This strategy contrasts with individual product
branding, where each product has a unique brand name and the corporate name is not promoted
to the consumer.

Corporate branding affects multiple stakeholders (e.g., employees, investors) and impacts many
aspects of companies such as the evaluation of their product and services, corporate identity and
culture, sponsorship, employment applications, brand extensions (see study Fetscherin and
Usunier, 2012). It therefore can result in significant economies of scope since one advertising
campaign can be used for several products. It also facilitates new product acceptance because
potential buyers are already familiar with the name. However, this strategy may hinder the
creation of distinct brand images or identities for different products: an overarching corporate
brand reduces the ability to position a brand with an individual identity, and may conceal
different products' unique characteristics.

Corporate branding is not limited to a specific mark or name. Branding can incorporate multiple
touchpoints. These touchpoints include; logo, customer service, treatment and training of
employees, packaging, advertising, stationery, and quality of products and services. Any means
by which the general public comes into contact with a specific brand constitutes a touchpoint that
can affect perceptions of the corporate brand.

It has been argued that successful corporate branding often stems from a strong coherence
between what the company’s top management seek to accomplish (their strategic vision), what
the company’s employees know and believe (lodged in its organizational culture), and how its
external stakeholders perceived the company (their image of it). Misalignments between these
three factors, may indicate an underperforming corporate brand. This type of corporate brand
analysis has been labeled the Vision-Culture-Image (VCI) Alignment Model.[1]

Changes in stakeholder expectations are causing an increasing number of corporations to

integrate marketing, communications and corporate social responsibility into corporate branding.
This trend is evident in campaigns such as IBM Smarter Planet, G.E. Ecomagination, The Coca-
Cola Company Live Positively, and DOW Human Element. As never before, people care about
the corporation behind the product. They do not separate their opinions about the company from
their opinions of that company's products or services. This blending of corporate and
product/service opinions is due to increasing corporate transparency, which gives stakeholders a
deeper, clearer view into a corporation's actual behavior and actual performance. Transparency
is, in part, a byproduct of the digital revolution, which has enabled stakeholders—employees,
retirees, customers, business partners, supply chain partners, investors, neighbors—with the
ability to share opinion about corporations via social media.

Marketing theory suggests that there are three main types of brand name:

(1) Family brand names:

A family brand name is used for all products. By building customer trust and loyalty to the
family brand name, all products that use the brand can benefit.

Good examples include brands in the food industry, including Kellogg’s, Heinz and Del
Monte. Of course, the use of a family brand can also create problems if one of the products
gets bad publicity or is a failure in a market. This can damage the reputation of a whole
range of brands.

(2) Individual brand names:

An individual brand name does not identify a brand with a particular company.

For example, take the case of Heinz. Heinz is a leading global food manufacturer with a
very strong family brand. However, it also operates many well-known individual brand
names. Examples include Farleys (baby food) and Weight Watcher’s Foods (diet/slimming
meals and supplements).

Why does Heinz use individual brand names when it has such a strong family brand name?
There are several reasons why a brand needs a separate identity – unrelated to the family
brand name:
• The product may be competing in a new market segment where failure could harm the
main family brand name

• The family brand name may be positioned inappropriately for the target market segment.
For example the family brand name might be positioned as an upmarket brand for affluent
consumers.

• The brand may have been acquired; in other words it has already established itself as a
leading brand in the market segment. The fact that it has been acquired by a company with
a strong family brand name does not mean that the acquired brand has to be changed.

(3) Combination brand names:

A combination brand name brings together a family brand name and an individual brand
name. The idea here is to provide some association for the product with a strong family
brand name but maintaining some distinctiveness so that customers know what they are
getting.

Examples of combination brand names include Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office in
personal computing software and Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Heinz Pet Foods.