MKT 678: Module 1-3
Short Paper
Victoria LaPean
May 19, 2024
After reviewing the document Corporate Branding and Brand Architecture: A Conceptual
Framework, and the course glossary, it has become clearer that the different branding strategies
are important to a corporation. The term that stood out to me is Sub-Brand. Sub-Brand is a
brand that carries its own identity, while at the same time being visually or verbally attached to a
parent or master brand. According to the text “By contrast, in a branded house, where both
corporation and products share the same name, the master brand is the primary driver for brand
associations (Saunders and Guoqun, 1997). Reciprocally, corporate brands take on values from
the product portfolio (Brown and Dacin, 1997) as well as from the corporation’s culture and
heritage (Aaker, 2004). The master brand becomes the umbrella for various products or services
offered. Virgin provides a typical example: Virgin Cola, Virgin Music, Virgin Airlines, and Virgin
Jeans. Other examples include Honda, Philips or Heinz. Corporate brands can be used to replace
multiple, com-plex sub-brand structures to achieve cost efficiencies (Laforet and Saunders, 1999,
2005).”.
Companies can use sub-branding to use the parent brand that has a good reputation, and
to be associated with a well-liked brand could help the reputation of the other brand. Another
reason to sub-brand could be to target a new audience. According to the article Sub-Branding:
The Pros and Cons, it uses Proctor and Gamble as an example of a parent company and Pampers
as the sub-brand. This new audience that was able to be targeted were new parents. “Of course,
these two audiences may overlap, and if people know and trust Proctor and Gamble, they’re
more likely to take a chance on their other sub brands.” (Sub Branding: The Key Pros and Cons,
2023).
References
Muzellec, L., & Lambkin, M. C. (2009). Corporate branding and brand architecture: a conceptual
framework.@Marketing Theory,@9(1), 39–54.
Sub Branding: The Key Pros and Cons. (2023, May 1). Unlimited Graphic Design Service.
https://penji.co/sub-branding/#:~:text=A%20sub%20brand%20can%20be
