Construction of international brand portfolios: impact on local brands
| Date | 23 August 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421111157928 |
| Published date | 23 August 2011 |
| Pages | 402-407 |
| Author | Bruno Godey,Chantal Lai |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Case study
Construction of international brand portfolios:
impact on local brands
Bruno Godey and Chantal Lai
Marketing Department, Rouen Business School, Mont Saint Aignan, France
Abstract
Purpose – In the literature, the question of how the strategies of brand portfolios affect performance remains open and subject to contradictory
developments. This paper aims to highlight the various steps involved in the analysis of international brand portfolios as well as issues specific to each
of these phases.
Design/methodology/approach – This article relies on the results of a longitudinal case study conducted in collaboration with the marketing
direction of Procter & Gamble’s European Business Unit “Laundry and Fabric Care” from 2004 to 2009.
Findings – The authors present the strategic and operational movements that led to the reduction of the P&G brand portfolio in the laundry category.
The authors then compare them with the current results of the company in this market to assess the performance of this strategy of rationalization.
Originality/value – While the best way forward to construct international brand portfolios has not yet been specifically defined and many questions
remain, this article provides an illustration of a methodology tested by an international company.
Keywords Brand portfolios, Brand management, International, Reduction, Global, Local, P&G, International business
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Marketers have traditionally focused on managing their
brands individually. Most recently however the emphasis has
shifted and with a tendency for companies to consider these
issues in the context of more generalised brand portfolio
management.
After several decades of expon ential growth of their
international brands portfolios, many multinationals firms
today are leaning more towards rationalization and reduction.
They usually choose a “top-down”, approach consisting of
taking decisions at the level of the international portfolio that
impact on the local portfolios.
Thus, since the early 2000s, Unilever has embarked on the
disposal of 1,200 brands from its original international
portfolio of 1,600, L’Oreal has built its success on only 17
international brands and Procter & Gamble has reduced its
portfolio to 300 brands of which 17 earn $1 billion or more.
Whilst this practice of rationalization seems to be justified
by the profound changes taking place in the economic
environment, it must be conducted with care to avoid risks.
In the literature, the question of how the strategies of brand
portfolios affect performance remains open and subject to
contradictory developments (Bordley, 2003; Kumar, 2003).
This article highlights the various steps involved in the
process (identification, classification, implementation and
assessment) as well as issues specific to each of these phases. It
relies in particular on the results of a longitudinal case study
conducted in collaboration with the marketing direction of the
Procter & Gamble’s European Business Unit “Laundry and
Fabric Care” from 2004 to 2009.
1. The evolution of international brand portfolios
The brand portfolio of a company consists of all brand names
of products or services that this company offers worldwide.
The concept of the international brand portfolio is therefore
positioned at the intersection of, on the one hand, markets
where the company operates, and on the other hand products/
brands offered by it together with the countries in which the
brands are present. Reflections on international brand
portfolios are therefore ba sed on both the analysis of
strategic business units within the company, the markets/
brand dimension and the international deployment thereof.
A historical analysis of international brand portfolios of
large multinational organisations, based on the work of
Kapferer (2004), leads to the conclusion that two major
periods followed one another: their growth and their
reduction.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
20/5 (2011) 402–407
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/10610421111157928]
The authors would like to thank Noe
´mie Ganem, the Senior Brand
Manager in charge of restructuring Procter & Gamble’s detergent brand
portfolio in France.
402
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