Categorising brand strategies using the Brand-bonding Spectrum

Abstract

This paper identifies brand-bonding as a potential route to developing powerful brands, as well as being an additional weapon to combat the threat posed by retailer brands. Brand-bonding is defined here as the linking together of a corporate or house brand (HB) name with a product or service brand (PB) name, one acting as an adjective to another, or both acting as adjectives to each other.

Brand-bonding capitalises on the increasing consumer need to know more about companies that stand behind a brand. The reciprocal relationships which take place between house brands and product brands are illustrated along a spectrum identifying various strategies that brand portfolio companies can adopt. The spectrum proposed illustrates how, by utilising the equities of a house brand name in various ways, a product brand might gain additional competitive advantages which could help it to leap-frog ahead of its competitors. Conversely, product brands can enhance the added values of their house brand name.

The brand-bonding spectrum outlines the different permutations that can exist in a brand-bonded relationship. It is proposed that the brand-bonding spectrum (BBS) be used as a primary tool in the formulation and planning of brand strategies and policies.