In a competitive marketplace consumers need reassurance that the product they are about to purchase has high levels of quality and reliability. Sometimes the product brand needs a little extra support to ensure these demands are met. This little extra can come in the form of corporate endorsement where the strength of the corporate brand is leveraged to support and enhance the product brand. The two appear together, on the product, on packaging and in advertising. The corporate brand as a result is given more exposure than it normally would have.
What is the down side? What if the product bombs? The corporate brand may be tarnished for some time.
Virgin has used the corporate brand name across its entire product portfolio. The much publicised problems relating to its rail franchise could very well have tarnished the Virgin brand. The fact that it hasn’t is testament to the strength of the core brand.
Placing the corporate and product brands together allows the product brand to assume its own identity and positioning, but also source added strength from the corporate brand and its perceived qualities. This approach can help when a company wishes to introduce new products into a mature market, where it can be very difficult to gain penetration without the visual endorsement of a strong and credible corporate parental brand.
Cadbury does this very well with its many confectionery products – Cadbury’s Creme Egg, Cadbury’s Bournville, Cadbury’s Roses, Cadbury’s Caramello where each product name has assumed the role of product brand.
In the case of Heinz the corporate name endorses product descriptors as opposed to product brands eg Heinz Baked Beans, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Heinz Cream of Mushroom Soup etc.
What should be the visual size relationship between the two brands? This varies from one company to another depending on your objectives. Sometimes the corporate brand has equal prominence to the product name where the corporate brand is used very much as an identifier. Sometimes the corporate brand assumes a small size where it is used primarily as an endorsement.
Endorsement branding is increasingly used as a mechanism to integrate brand structure across country markets, providing a common element to unify product offerings. Sometimes different cultures, different consumer tastes and differing perception of the brands can dictate that the relationship must change from country to country.
A good example of this is leading coffee manufacturer Douwe Egbert with its ‘lady logo’ which appears on its coffee products worldwide. The size of the lady varies from country to country. The related positioning statement also changes so that in Spain the positioning emphasises coffee richness while in Holland, the association is with family values and comfort.
In conclusion, yes there can be considerable upside to corporate brand endorsement so long as you have confidence in the integrity of the product brand.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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