Opening the Umbrella: Branding Across Divisions
Friday, September 07, 2007
For a parent company that owns many separate, even disparate, companies or subsidiaries, branding can unite the various divisions under a single, recognizable umbrella brand. While each division may operate in very different sectors, they share the same company values and deliver on the same company promise. A divisional branding strategy concentrates on the ‘big picture’ commonalities that connect every division of a company. Marketing consultant Stephen Denny succinctly captures the goal of company-wide branding: “an opportunity to create a cohesive brand strategy that makes the whole of your product portfolio greater than the sum of its parts.”
Branding at the divisional level works because a brand is more than a particular product or service - it’s the company’s name and reputation. Carrying branding through to the divisional level begins to build recognition for the larger umbrella brand. With a solid brand established, a company can then leverage its reputation as it expands into new markets and sectors.
Consider the recent example of Citigroup, a parent company choosing to unite its businesses under one consistent corporate brand. Choosing the “Citi” brand name, Chairman and CEO Charles Prince explained that the “unified brand represents the promise to serve [Citi’s] clients as one company, as one Citi.” The company’s various divisions will start using different coloured logos all with the recognizable red arc graphic element. The divisional company names will also change to reflect inclusion in the Citi brand: Citi Smith Barney, Citi Investment Research, and Citi Private Bank. Citi has decided to leverage one symbol and name to represent their commitment to providing their clients with best-in-class advice, products, and services - no matter the division.
The ‘Virgin’ brand is a great example of the result of successful corporate branding across divisions. According to their website, Virgin has 33 divisions operating under the Virgin name. Divisions span diverse industries including travel & tourism, leisure & pleasure, telecommunications & media, social & environment, shopping, health, and finance yet all are united under the umbrella Virgin brand. The list of divisional brands is staggeringly impressive: Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Vacations, Virgin Games, Virgin Spa, Virgin Earth, Virgin Fuels, Virgin Books, Virgin Drinks, Virgin Media, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Money, and Virgin Life Care - to name just a handful. But more than the name itself, Virgin understands that what ties these disparate businesses together are the values of their brand and the attitude of their people - they even state this explicitly on their website. They then go on to explain what Virgin stands for, what their values are, and what they deliver - in every one of their companies.
Virgin founder and CEO Richard Branson grasps the power of branding: “If you get your face and your name out there enough, people will start to recognise you. Many people know the Virgin brand better than the names of the individual companies within the group. A young girl once came up to me and told me I could be famous because I looked just like Richard Branson! Branding is everything. I think it’s also wise to diversify; this enables you to have a contingency plan when the economy is going through a rough patch.”