Umbrella brand: advantages and disadvantages

The notion of "umbrella brand" has recently become part of our everyday life. What does it mean, what are its distinctive features, advantages and disadvantages. This article will be devoted to this.

In order to correctly understand the essence of the question, it is necessary to know the meaning of the basic concept of this sphere of PR, namely, the brand. By this term it is customary to understand a certain conditional graphic image or a letter designation of the manufacturer of a particular product. Marketing specialists position the brand as a stable symbolic perception of the brand in the consumer. It is this feature of the human psyche that determines the positive perception of some products and the steady rejection of others.

Umbrella brand assumes effective and systematic "promotion" of several types of products under one well-known logo. It so happened that a consumer who is confident of the quality of a single product of a well-known manufacturer is more likely to acquire another if he sees on it a familiar sign or the name of the manufacturer. For example, A company that produces carbonated drinks, baby food, confectionery, tea and coffee, known to us under different trade names - an umbrella brand. A vivid example of this can be the brands Nestle, Swarzkopf, Coca-cola, Danon and many others.

Types of brands

Today we can distinguish several varieties of the brand:

- Standalone. It is designed for a single product or product, although there may be several of them in the lineup. For example, the "Bounty" bar.

- Light. This version involves adding a slightly modified product to the product line (limited edition of Pepsi Cola of unusual blue color). In this case, further increase in varieties of goods is not required.

- Brand with extension. This strategy allows the manufacturer to produce new products under an existing name. For example, new collections of bags of a famous brand. There can be as many as you like, but the name remains unchanged.

- Linear. This variety determines the presence in the product line of several products, united by one purpose (hair care series: shampoos, rinses, hair masks, etc.).

- Umbrella brand. Sometimes it is called "support". Its essence - in the production of the widest destination, ranging from toilet paper to professional cosmetics or even clothing and footwear, for example. Such a strategy can only be afforded by a company that already enjoys popularity and consumer confidence.

Advantages of the reference brand

The main positive aspects of a marketing company that uses an umbrella brand are:

- a simplified scheme for the popularization of goods due to the brand's fame;

- Reducing the cost of output to the market. It does not require large-scale expensive brand advertising or the search for an original name for a new product: the client will recognize the product using a familiar logo or manufacturer's name;

- increase in sales due to a large number of products for various purposes.

Negative sides

Umbrella brand has a significant disadvantage, which is the flip side of its advantages: a logo similar to all known designations or symbols of a popular brand, often use scammers to produce counterfeit products of poor quality. Disappointed in a fake, the buyer can transfer a negative perception to all the products of the manufacturer as a whole.