Types of Branding Strategies Explained (with Examples)

I recently created a small business and spent quite a bit of time analyzing, strategizing, and debating which branding strategy to utilize concerning the services I was planning on offering. As frustrating as that can be, luckily, branding is my area of expertise, and so this wasn’t as hard for me as it would the average beginner entrepreneur.

So, I’ve decided to write this post and explain, in as much detail as possible, the different branding strategies, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, and some examples to hopefully make it easier for you to choose the right branding strategy business.

Here are the 5 different branding strategies:

1. Product branding
2. Line branding
3. Range branding
4. Umbrella branding
5. Endorsed branding

Before we take a deep dive into the different strategies, we need to briefly touch on a few introductory formalities on what a branding strategy is, why you need one, and how to go about choosing one. Ready? Let’s go!

What is a Branding Strategy?

A branding strategy is a strategy used by a company to brand its products or services to allow for the most effective brand promise and positioning for the intended target audience of the particular products or services. The branding strategy best suited for a business will depend on the nature and scope and its products or services.

The Different Types of Branding Strategies

When you get started on your entrepreneurial journey, it can be quite confusing to decide which brand strategy to utilize for your products or services. With so many strategies to choose from, picking the one that’s right for your particular brand comes down to knowledge and understanding of each of them and their specific functions, advantages, disadvantages, etc.

Now let’s look at the different branding strategies you can use in your business and check out some examples.

1. Product Branding

The first branding strategy on our list is the product branding strategy.

What is a Product Branding Strategy?

A product branding strategy is a branding strategy that a company would use to brand an individual product or individual products with their own unique branding, brand strategy, promise, and positioning in the market. Each new product that the company produces would therefore become a separate brand.

Examples of a Product Branding Strategy

Here are a few examples of companies that utilize a product branding strategy successfully.

Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble is a parent company that uses product branding strategies for many of its brands. Here are a few highlights on how they use this strategy very effectively to market their brands.

• Zest. The brand stands alone with its own distinctive brand strategy, promise, and positioning in the market, completely divorced from the Procter & Gamble master brand.
  
• Ariel. Similar to Zest, Ariel is a separate brand with its own strategy and brand promise. Ariel is positioned in the market as a high-quality laundry detergent that removes tough stains and has superior technology, competing against some of the biggest brand names in the space.
  
• Tide. Tide on the other hand, also a laundry detergent, is a separate brand with its own strategy. Tide is positioned in the marketplace for “outstanding whiteness” and its lower price.
  
• Pantene, Herbal Essence, and Head & Shoulders. All of these shampoo brands fall under the Procter & Gamble master brand, but each with its own unique branding, brand strategy, promise, and positioning.

Advantages of a Product Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the advantages of a product branding strategy.

• Completely divorced from the master brand, which gives the brands total freedom in their positioning and marketing
• Usually a single core element that can be focused on to target a very specific segment of the market
• Individual brands not affected by the potential negative brand image of the other brands

Disadvantages of a Product Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of a product branding strategy.

• The individual brand does not benefit from the reputation of the master brand
• High cost of marketing to market each brand separately
• Cannot diversify and introduce new complementary products into the market

For a more in-depth look and more examples, check out our complete guide to product branding.

2. Line Branding

Now we will take a look at the line branding strategy.

What is a Line Branding Strategy?

A line branding strategy is a branding strategy used by a company to brand a line of products or services or multiple complementary lines of products or services while sharing the branding, brand strategy, promise, and positioning of the master brand. This is a great strategy for creating cross-selling opportunities among customers.

Examples of a Line Branding Strategy

Here are a few examples of companies that utilize a line branding strategy successfully.

Apple

Unless you’ve been living on Mars for the last decade, you are acutely aware of the Apple brand and its multiple lines of products that enrich our lives daily. Here are a few lines of brands that fall under the Apple master brand and share its branding, brand strategy, promise, and positioning.

• iMac
• iPhone
• iPad
• Apple Watch
• iPod
• Macbook PRO

Although these are separate lines of brands, their all share the Apple brand and embrace the same values. This is great for making customers feel secure when buying either of these products as they all have the Apple quality stamp of approval, so to speak. They are also closely related and fall under the same “technology” category, allowing for cross-selling opportunities among customers of all the different product lines.

Passion Posts (Passion Studios)

As I mentioned in the article’s opening line, I recently started a small business and went through this same process of choosing the best branding strategy for the services I was planning to offer. And for that reason, I have added it here as an example to show what I eventually ended up with.

The master brand is called Passion Posts and can be defined as an internet content provider. We write blog posts for successful niche sites that want to outsource the content creation for their websites.

The overall brand promise and positioning are based on “passion,” and the tag line is “add some passion to your business/blog.”

Following the same overall promise and positioning, I added additional lines of services relevant to internet content creation like designing, video editing, website development, brand consultancy, & photography.

Following the master brand, I’ve decided to brand these additional lines of services as follows:

• Passion Posts (Master Brand) – Blog posts with passion
• Passion Lists – Lists with passion (Keyword research)
• Passion Designs – Designs with passion
• Passion Edits – Video edits with passion
• Passion Point – Find your passion point (Brand development)
• Passion Press – WordPress services with passion
• Passion Pics – Pics with passion

Above is all the line brands side by side to see how I implemented the branding on each one, and the picture below illustrates some of the basic marketing materials to get an idea of how it all comes together in practice.

I have since created the official company under the name “Passion Studios,” and you can check out the Passion Posts website.

Advantages of a Line Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the advantages of a line branding strategy.

• All the product lines leverage the brand equity of the master brand
• Can easily introduce new products into the market under the master brand and leverage the same brand strategy and positioning
• Marketing costs are lower as resources are shared and more focus is placed on marketing the master brand
• Allows for cross-selling opportunities

Disadvantages of a Line Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of a line branding strategy.

• Difficult to introduce products that fall outside the master brand’s positioning
• Less adaptable to changes in the market
• Harder for a product line to potentially target a different segment of the market
• If one product line or the master brand itself experiences a scandal or negative press, it affects all the product lines under the master brand

For a more in-depth look and more examples, check out our complete guide to line branding.

3. Range Branding

Now we will take a look at the range branding strategy.

What is a Range Branding Strategy?

A range branding strategy is a branding strategy used by a company to brand a range of products or services that fall under the same area of competence, under their own unique brand with their own brand strategy, promise, and positioning, while also still being tied to the overall strategy and positioning of the master brand.

Range branding is different from line branding because the specific lines or range of products form a stand-alone brand apart from the master brand. When Apple introduces a new line of products, like headphones, the line bears the Apple brand and falls in line with the Apple brand’s brand strategy and positioning in the marketplace.

Examples of a Range Branding Strategy

Here are a few examples of companies that utilize a range branding strategy successfully.

Maggi (Nestle)

One of the most famous examples of a company using a range branding strategy is Nestle and its Maggi brand. Nestle uses the Maggi brand to market and sells its range of fast food products like noodles, sauces, etc. Although it is part of the Nestle family and falls under the Nestle brand architecture, Maggi is a brand in its own right with its own unique branding, brand strategy, promise, and positioning.

That being said, Maggi is still tied to the Nestle brand and its overall positioning to some extent, and that is a key characteristic of range branding. So while it mostly stands on its own as a brand, it still has one foot in the door of the Nestle master brand.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is another great example, along with some of the other big car companies.

Mercedes-Benz has many different ranges of products, each range with its own brand strategy, positioning, promise, and target audience.

• Mercedes-Benz S, E, C & A Classes. Luxury, high-quality, family cars.
• Mercedes-AMG. All about performance.
• Mercedes-Maybach. Ultra-luxury for the ultra-rich.
• Smart. Small and compact for inner-city living.

Advantages of a Range Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the advantages of a range branding strategy.

• Each range and area of competence can be positioned and marketed to a specific target audience to an extent, without having to worry about the positioning of the master brand
• The range brand still enjoys some of the benefits of being associated with the master brand
• New products that fall under the same area of competence can be easily introduced into the market under the range brand

Disadvantages of a Range Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of a range branding strategy.

• Each range is limited to its area of competence and its hard to introduce new or complementary products under the same range brand
• Any negative press that a range brand in the brand family or the master brand itself gets, affects all of the range and other brands under the brand architecture
• Marketing cost is higher than with line brands

For a more in-depth look and more examples, check out our complete guide to range branding.

4. Umbrella Branding

Now we will take a look at the umbrella branding strategy.

What is a Umbrella Branding Strategy?

An umbrella branding strategy is a branding strategy used by a company to brand a multitude of products or services, lines of products or services, or ranges of products or services, under one umbrella brand, all leveraging the overall brand strategy, promise, and positioning of the master or umbrella brand.

Examples of a Umbrella Branding Strategy

Here are a few examples of companies that utilize an umbrella branding strategy successfully.

Kellogg’s

Kellogg’s is a great example of a company that successfully utilizes an umbrella branding strategy for its wide range of breakfast cereals (umbrella products).

Kellogg’s also targets various market segments with its respective cereals like:

• Cornflakes: Marketed to the general public
• Rice Crispies, Chocos, Coco Pops, etc: Primarily aimed at kids
• Raisan Bran, Special K, etc: More fitness and health concious customer
• Breakfast/snack bars: People on the go

Coca Cola

Coca-Cola is an interesting example as they use an umbrella branding strategy for the master brand and implement it within the sub/umbrella brands as well.

Advantages of a Umbrella Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the advantages of an umbrella branding strategy.

• All the product lines leverage the brand equity of the master brand
• Can easily introduce new umbrella products into the market under the master brand and leverage the brand equity of the master brand
• Marketing costs are lower as resources are shared and more focus is placed on marketing the master brand
• The master brand remains flexible to use differrent branding strategies on different products if they choose

Disadvantages of a Umbrella Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of an umbrella branding strategy.

• Companies with weak brand equity will find it difficult to successfully introduce new umbrella products.
• Negative brand associations will spill over into umbrella products and negatively affect consumer perception.
• Difficult to introduce products into new products unrelated to the majority of umbrella products as new markets might be unfamiliar with the master brand.
• Market cannibalization is an issue as similar umbrella products compete for market share.

For a more in-depth look and more examples, check out our complete guide to umbrella branding.

5. Endorsed Branding

And finally, we will take a look at the endorsed branding strategy.

What is a Endorsed Branding Strategy?

An endorsed branding strategy is a branding strategy used by a company to strengthen the brand equity of a range of products or services through brand association and brand endorsement, thereby leveraging the overall brand equity, promise, and positioning of the master brand.

Endorsed brands essentially enjoy the best of both worlds, being independent enough to have their own brand strategy, positioning, and promise, while still enjoying the association and endorsement from the master brand.

Examples of a Endorsed Branding Strategy

Here are a few examples of companies that utilize an endorsed branding strategy successfully.

Nabisco

Very similar to a product branding strategy, Nabisco uses an endorsed branding strategy where each of their respective brands has its own strategy, positioning, and promise while enjoying an endorsement from the Nabisco master brand.

Here are some examples of Nabisco’s endorsed brands in their portfolio:

• Belvita
• Chips Ahoy!
• Nutter Butter
• Oreo
• Rice Thins
• Ritz Crackers
• Sugar Rings
• Teddy Grahams
• Toastettes
• Twigs

Nestle

Nestle actually uses a mix of brand strategies for their portfolio of brands that fall under the master brand.

When it comes to their endorsed branding strategy, the following sub/endorsed brands fall under master brand following an endorsed branding strategy:

• Smarties
• Kit-Kat
• Milo
• Milky Bar
• Pure Life Water
• Nesquick
• Cofee-Mate

Advantages of a Endorsed Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the advantages of an endorsed branding strategy.

• All the product lines leverage the brand equity of the master brand through the endorsement
• Can relatively easily introduce new endorsed brands into the market and leverage the brand equity of the master brand
• Cross selling opportunities are always available to help market new products and brands
• The master brand remains flexible to use different branding strategies on different products

Disadvantages of a Endorsed Branding Strategy

Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of an endorsed branding strategy.

• Companies with weak brand equity will find it difficult to successfully introduce new endorsed brands.
• Negative brand associations will spill over into the endorsed brands and negatively affect consumer perception.
• Market cannibalization is an issue as similar endorsed brands compete for market share.
• High cost of marketing to market each brand separately

For a more in-depth look and more examples, check out our complete guide to endorsed branding.

Comparing the Different Types of Branding Strategies

Here is a summary of the different types of branding strategies and how they fare in comparison.

Conclusion

Whether your business is new or old, big or small, having the right branding strategy can make a big difference in how you promote and brand your products to maximize your brand and marketing efforts, not only for saving money, but also to increase your customer experience and satisfaction.