{"id":3590,"date":"2009-01-19T02:16:13","date_gmt":"2009-01-19T02:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/?p=3590"},"modified":"2009-01-17T17:35:49","modified_gmt":"2009-01-17T17:35:49","slug":"are-your-sub-brands-embarrassing-your-primary-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/are-your-sub-brands-embarrassing-your-primary-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Your Sub-brands Embarrassing Your Primary Brand?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"scion\"On Saturday morning, I opened the Yahoo! home page and saw a featured article about celebrity children who tarnish their parents’ names<\/a>.\u00a0 I had to take a look and see who the writer tagged as the biggest embarrassments to big name musicians.\u00a0 I couldn’t help myself.\u00a0 As I looked through the list of less-talented offspring, I started to think about how the same thing could happen to corporate brands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are your sub-brands embarrassing your primary brand?<\/p>\n

Of course, the first rule of branding is consistency, but sometimes a well-known company brand can support a wide variety of sub-brands successfully.\u00a0 However, what if a sub-brand fails to perform well?\u00a0 And what if that sub-brand draws a lot of unflattering publicity?\u00a0 The answer is clear if that sub-brand is not bringing in the revenue the company needs, but what if that sub-brand is driving huge profits?\u00a0 Does the company protect its main brand and let go of the sub-brand, or does the company keep the sub-brand and let the chips fall where they may?<\/p>\n

Keeping a rogue sub-brand could mean completely overhauling the company’s brand-building marketing strategy overall.\u00a0 The investment could be large and ongoing.\u00a0 Naturally, any company that finds itself in this extreme position needs to do a great deal of analysis to make the best decision, but what if one of your sub-brands is only slightly out of line with your company’s overall brand?\u00a0 Is it possible for a mildly disconnected brand to co-exist with the primary brand?<\/p>\n

Of course, the answer to that question is, yes.\u00a0 For example, Toyota retains its position as market leader based on its quality products despite the fact that it offers the Scion sub-brand that is marketed as a less expensive option\u00a0(i.e., “cheaper”).\u00a0 Even Mercedes offers a low-end vehicle that has not tarnished the overall Mercedes brand image of luxury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, it’s an ongoing branding challenge to ensure a disconnected sub-brand meshes with the overall brand and if possible, enhances it.\u00a0 In other words, don’t let a disconnected sub-brand run wild.\u00a0 Instead, nurture it and make sure it grows in a way that provides value to your primary brand rather than detracting from it and confusing consumers.<\/p>\n

Image: <\/em>Flickr<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Saturday morning, I opened the Yahoo! home page and saw a featured article about celebrity children who tarnish their parents’ names.\u00a0 I had to take a look and see who the writer tagged as the biggest embarrassments to big name musicians.\u00a0 I couldn’t help myself.\u00a0 As I looked through the list of less-talented offspring, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[165,103,96,124,110,1171],"class_list":{"0":"post-3590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-brand","7":"tag-brand-extensions","8":"tag-brand-image","9":"tag-branding","10":"tag-celebrity-branding","11":"tag-corporate-branding","12":"tag-scion","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nAre Your Sub-brands Embarrassing Your Primary Brand?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Don't let a rogue sub-brand tarnish your primary brand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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