Just as nature
abhors a vacuum, organizations hate missing an opportunity to leverage their
assets. It is an instinct that has led many to consider whether they can get
more out of their names – that is to create corporate brands in addition to
their product brands.
The question is
particularly relevant for companies in the consumer-goods industry, which
typically market their wares under a variety of different names such as
Kasapreko’s Alomo Bitters, Unilever’s Dove soap or Nestlé’s Maggi Mixpy.
Invariably,
while not all companies are responding in the same manner, some local branding
experts say they detect an increasing willingness on the part of many of their
leading corporate clients in Ghana to think of ways of using names to greater
effect.
The growing prominence
of Kasapreko, Chocho Industries and Neat Foods on packaging testifies to that
desire. We, currently in Ghana, seem to be seeing a bit of a trend in companies
looking to build power brands at the corporate level and then leveraging on
those in a way that is visible to consumers.
Power brands are brands with global potential if not global scale.
This trend has
developed in recent years as a result of economic necessity. Following recent world
economic decline, a lot of local companies and some multinationals in Ghana
grew less interested in acquiring or developing new brands and remained more
inclined to leverage the brand assets they already possess.
Corporate
branding was another manifestation of the trend and the interest in it has
endured for both marketing and financial reasons. On the traditional marketing
front, companies that embrace corporate brands can use their names as a mark of
quality; a strategy that can prove particularly helpful in boosting any weaker
brands in any given corporate portfolio. As companies grow more inclined to
demonstrate their corporate social responsibility, they could be growing more
willing to display their names as a way of getting credit for good works.
Adam Sulley, a
leading brand marketing expert in Ghana, says some companies in Ghana have used
corporate as a way of differentiating themselves from competitors. By serving
clients through a specially created corporate team, a company may be
highlighting its ability to provide its customers with a range of marketing
services.
However, some
analysts caution that this approach might not suit companies with even broader
product or service offerings. I personally believe corporate umbrella branding
is a constraint on corporate action. You have to have businesses that are
consistent with each other.
Corporate
branding can also create financial benefits, some involving tax. For example, a
company based in a lower-tax jurisdiction could license its name to its operations
in a higher-tax country in return for royalty payment. The result would be that
it could shelter some of its income from a higher tax country.
There are also
elements of intellectual property associated with brands. One of the things you
need to take into consideration is that intellectual property has a value. Investors are another target of corporate
branding campaigns. By putting its corporate name on its products, a company is
reminding potential investors of the worthy brands in its portfolio – no small
matter at a time when so much corporate compensation is tied to profitability.
In general,
marketers have tended to think that product brands benefit from corporate
brands, but I sincerely believe the reverse is true – corporate brands benefit more
from product brands. Corporate branding
can also be used to motivate staff. One of the issues that companies with different
brands have is that they do not get a sense of same brand philosophy among
their people.
Surely, there
are dangers to corporate branding. For a start, it might just confuse consumers
or limit the ability of marketers to use targeted approach to give their brands
a more local feel. The other worry is the collateral damage that could result
if something goes wrong with a particular product.
Corporate
branding, in other words is not for the faint hearted.
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