(opinion article)

Everywhere you go, you see a bunch of brands that seem different. But do you know that these brands are technically one brand? So, you don`t choose between competing brands! You pay your money to one company.

How did it happen?

Brands are different, and they have different target audiences, values and goals, but sometimes they are united into one brand because it is easier to manage them.

There are several types of brands in marketing: parent brand, the umbrella brand and line brand.

A parent brand sits at the top of a brand architecture hierarchy, looking like a pyramid, often owning and overseeing multiple sub-brands or umbrella brands. Such companies can use their names as the main brand for products, or most often, they tend to have less visible names to attract attention to brands under their control. Also, sub-brands occupy completely different niches of the market, from food to goods for home. Among parent brands are Nestlé (Kit Kat, Gerber, Purina, Nescafe), Johnson & Johnson (Acuvue, Tylenol, Listerine), Procter & Gamble (P&G) (Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Lacoste).

An umbrella brand is a marketing strategy where a single brand name is used to sell a variety of related products. It`s like a large umbrella (one famous brand) sheltering all the products underneath it. Often, this type of branding is used by electronics companies, for example, Samsung, Apple or Bosch. All these companies have one famous product, accordingly Samsung — smartphone, iPhone and Bosch — washing machine that helps to promote other items, because people already trust this company.

A line brand is created specifically for a product line, which is a group of related products that share similar characteristics or functionalities. It’s like having a dedicated mini-brand within a larger umbrella brand. L’Oreal uses ‘Revitalift’ as a line brand for their anti-aging skincare products; Adidas has line brands for casual wear or specific sports, for example, Adidas Originals, Adidas Sneakers or Adidas Basketball.

All of these types of brands have their pros and cons, but for us, customers, it`s not that important. For us, it`s more useful to know which company our money goes to!

Now that you’re armed with this knowledge, the next time you go shopping, see if you can identify the parent company behind your favorite brands!