Modern marketing warfare postures
In the modern world, one brand is continuously pitted against the other and battles are continuously being fought on the parameters of quality, reputation and market share. Brands are competing on a one-to-one basis on a regional, national and global level. It goes without saying that one of the biggest developments which defined marketing strategy is brand strategy. The entire packaging of a product or service is in the form of a brand—which in effect is one large formation.It was intense competition among the FMCGs on various fronts that made the multibranding approach very important. Whether it is in soaps, TVs, apparel or toothpaste segments, the endeavour is always to capture a market with the best possible gross margins. One-to-one battles that are being fought are all in the quest of dominating the gained market space.
Multibranding as a concept and executable marketing paradigm was pioneered by the FMCGs followed by the consumer durables players. It has now moved on to the packaged food products segment and will soon swamp the hospitality and other highly service-oriented businesses and sectors.

Identification Of The Core Brand
As there is increasing multiplicity of competitors, it becomes imperative to identify your core brand. This easily represents the first step of multibranding that a strong brand needs to adopt. The brand so identified must basically deliver the largest volume and the highest cash flow. Clearly, this brand has to be in a leadership/near-leadership position—with this being the most attractive element of the business. At this juncture, it is time to begin the step-by-step line of activities to guard the core brand. Create one or more smaller product categories to protect the flanks after fortifying the top and the rear with a slew of other aggressive products.
In the soaps business, Lux crafted a multibranding strategy to ward off the incessant threat from a new and aggressive line of competitors. At the core was the main brand, Lux, which fought with all the competitors and connoted the image of a dominant brand of soaps. Then Lux introduced a number of soaps that went on to become volume sellers and gave Lux a protective cushion. As a rearguard measure, Lux brought in Jai into the market to consolidate its overall market share. Similar has been the case with market leader Colgate in the high-decibel, high-activity toothpaste segment.

Videocon: From market leadership to overall brand consolidation
Videocon’s case history, when it unravels its detailed chapters, represents a classic multibranding success story. In the consumer electronics sector, Videocon was a mass brand and very middle-class in ‘character’. As a core brand, it did not have any brands at the top end or at the flanks to ward off the thrust from the Sonys, the Panasonics and the VFM Korean range of products. So Videocon developed Bazooka as a top-of-the-line product to spearhead a frontal assault. Toshiba too was introduced to reinforce this strategy to take on all comers. Private was introduced as a sub-brand and gave tremendous protection to the brand in all the size categories and especially from price-aggressive competitors. The coup de grace was to bring in Sansui to protect the flanks, completing the protection of the core brand, Videocon, from virtually all sides.
But according to Newton’s law, each and every force has an equal and opposite reaction. So while a new range of brands and sub-brands creates a revenue thrust and protects the core brand, the core brand tends to get compressed over a medium- to long-term period. Likewise, Videocon saw its market share fall to 19 per cent from 26 per cent. However, all the other brands that were a part of the overall multibranding campaign gained substantial market share. So while production capacities were shored up, brand shares got fragmented. This led to an overall consolidation of the core brand, Videocon, which itself grew by 40 per cent. Thus, a multibranding exercise, once initiated, can bring about a substantial consolidation of the core brand.
Another application of multibranding is to move into product segmentation based purely on the socio-economic parameter—something which Raymond as a core brand specialized in. Park Avenue, the Raymond brand of readymades, was introduced to cater to the new breed of professionals that was a part of the liberalized era. For the youth who were more into casual wear, there was the Parx range of casuals across various product categories. After that, Manzoni, an absolutely top-of-the-line range of ties, suits and jackets was introduced. Manzoni has been a complete sellout in a period of six months whereas the other brands have flowered independently too—reinforcing the brand values of the core brand, Raymond, and consolidating the overall market share.

Multibranding: The Big Boys’ Game
There is no doubt that multibranding is a ‘big bucks’ game which can only be played by the big players in earmarked business areas and business streams. Profitable enterprises with the necessary operational efficiencies are the only ones capable of supporting brand promotion and brand protection exercises. Besides, they are the only ones capable of allocating huge budgets, deploying huge resources and making tactical retreats or assuming aggressive postures whenever ticklish situations arise. Also, it must be said that over a period of time, as the stronger brand consolidates, they have the wherewithal to not only set up entry barriers but also take on aggressive competitors already present in their market space.