Analysis of P&G's Brand Portfolio and Management Techniques

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BRAND MANAGEMENT

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Constructing and managing brand...................................................................................................3
Brand portfolio along with the hierarchy management of P&G......................................................6
Brand extension and leveraging.....................................................................................................10
Using specific organizational example, provide an evaluation of various techniques used for
measuring and managing...............................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference list.................................................................................................................................15

Introduction
In marketing, brand management is the analysis and planning on how a brand is perceived in the
market. Developing a good relationship with the target market is essential for brand
management. Like this the company can get proper results in their business s they can easily
impress their customers with proper products as well as packaging. With the help of this study
the brand management details of P&G can be identified properly.
Constructing and managing brand
The notion of brand refers to a particular concept, which helps the customers to differentiate
certain company from its competitors. Fabricating and managing brand help the companies to
draw the attention of the customers. Companies also focus on building brand image as it helps
them in the process of gaining competitive advantage over its rival organizations. It would not be
unjustified to state that in the current era the level of competition in almost every market is high
and it has become a necessity for most of the companies to establish a strong competitive
advantage to cement their footsteps in the market (Šerić et al. 2017, p.133-144). In the context of
building brand, the term Brand equity allude to the additional value that customers tend to attach
with a particular brand, which is different from all the other existing brands. The concept of
brand equity encompasses the perception, loyalty and awareness of a consumer towards the
brand. Brand value not only helps in attracting consumers but also it helps in enhancing the
profitability.
It is the liability of an organization to build its own brand value to ensure its position in the
competitive market quite easily. However, it is often said that establishing a unique brand image
and managing is not an easy task. Companies need to be extra careful while formulating their
strategies to develop the brand image as once a brand image is created in the minds of the
consumers it is very hard to modify that. The formulation of the strategy of establishing brand
image encompasses several stages. According to Hayran et al. (2016, p. 168-184), the first phase
of the branding process is developing brand personality and business aims. An adequate research
of the market is the necessary to identify the unique factors that the company can utilize. Apart
from that, developing a unique and attractive logo can help the company in drawing the attention

of the customers. There is no doubt about the fact that style guide and corporate branding styles
can facilitate the process of establishing brand image. However, above all of these factors, the
satisfaction level of the customers, performance of the company builds the brand value of
companies and makes them successful in the market.
Marketing department plays a pivotal role in the process of building the brand image and brand
value of the company. Brand value is also important factor in marketing in the sense that it helps
the customers in choosing the brand. On the other hand, commercial value of a company can be
easily established by brand equity, which in the longer run increases the sales.
The study is going to identify the strategy of P&G regarding building and managing its brand.
The company relies largely on its brand equity to run their business in the competitive markets
and to attract more customers towards the business. Brand equity becomes even more important
for P&G because it has spread its business in not only one country but also it functions in many
countries in all parts of the globe. The company keeps in mind the cultural, finance related
aspects, which facilitates the development of brand equity. P&G also provides high quality
products at comparatively cheaper rate than its competitors; naturally it attracts their customers.
Furthermore, the company provides great customer support and maintains good relationship with
their customers. Hayran et al. (2016, p. 168-184) posits that thus the demands and requirements
of the customers get portrayed before the organization seamlessly. Fulfilling the demands of the
customers undoubtedly helps the company in cementing their foothold in the market.
Furthermore, P&G offers products of different brands under the single hood. The company
primarily checks the quality of the products before taking it under their hood, which eliminates
the chance of shattering brand image of P&G. A thorough quality-check helps in maintaining a
certain level of quality (Šerić et al. 2017, p.133-144).
The company has also taken the stance of launching new products under the same brand name,
which attracts the consumers to the new products quite easily and thus it solves the purpose of
brand extension. The company has utilized the framework of Keller’s Brand equity. It would not
be unjustified to say that the brand equity model of the company is entirely customer-centric.
The company tries to identify the thoughts, feelings of the customers and based on that they
mould the right type of environment to foster positive thought, beliefs, opinions, feelings and
perceptions.

To give an example of the brand extension policy of the company, the company offers each and
every kind of skincare under the brand name of Olay. The company has successfully established
Olay as a premium quality brand; naturally launching new products under this brand image helps
in attracting not only the existing customer base but also draws the attention of completely new
customers.
However, recently it has been found that the detergent brand of the company Tide has faced
various issues recently and it has lost its market because of the legal actions. The company has
used brand image repairing policy and situational crisis theory to successfully tackle and avert
the proceedings of the court (Booth, 2015, p. 140). To re-establish the foot hold of Tide in the
competitive marketplace, P&G utilized the crisis management theory. This type of situations also
surfaces the underlying issues and P&G makes certain amendments in their policies to mitigate
the issues. Upon close inspection it has been found that the marketing department of the
company plays a pivotal role in these types of critical situations. Primarily, the marketing
department tries to find out the changes in the perception, feelings of the consumers after these
types of situation and formulates strategies to avert them.
It can be seen after analyzing the case of P&G that building and managing the brand are
undoubtedly one of the major responsibilities of any organization, as it facilitates the process of
gaining competitive advantage effectively over the rival companies. The brand image as well as
brand equity of P&G helps in attracting the potential customers. Furthermore, it has been found
that the company skillfully uses the existing brand image while launching similar type of new
product in the market. It helps in creating positive perception, feelings and thought among the
customers, which in the longer run enhances the sales of the products. However, it would be
unjustified to say that utilizing existing brand image does not have any negative impact. Brand
extension strategy is often witnessed to be associated with the dilution of the existing brand
image and cannibalization of existing items or products of the same brand. Therefore, utilization
of the right strategy at the right time is the key and balancing all these strategies adequately is the
key to success for any organization.

Brand portfolio along with the hierarchy management of P&G
Being a parent company, P&G is responsible for numerous brands that come under their name. It
has been observed that the brand portfolio is a collection of different brands within a company's
portfolio that can precisely help the organization to have proper control over them. Different
organizations have been observed to be implementing different portfolio as a part of their
business processes such as Blended House, Branded house and House of Brands. The concerned
study has showcased a brief discussion about the brand portfolio of P&G.
Portfolio models
(Source: Henfrey et al. 2018, p. 90)
In the competitive market, the presence of portfolio models can massively help companies in
order to manage various brands in an effective and successful manner. The branded house model
is responsible to help companies selling their different products by using a single brand name
whereas the hybrid model can help the companies to sell the products by using the sub-brand
names. On the other hand, House of brands model is quite different and helps companies to
choose different products having individual properties under the actual and single name of the
brand.

1. Analysis of brand portfolio strategy undertaken by P&G
P&G having massive brand recognition in the market is known to hold different brands as a
parent company. After analysing the company’s brand portfolio, it has been observed that they
use the House of Brands portfolio model in order to sell various products under a single brand
name. This strategy significantly helps the company to establish their business in a successful
way in the competitive market. The company has more than 100 brands under their umbrella and
the chosen model followed by them highly helps them to run the business in an effective manner.
In addition to this, the company uses the Boston Matrix for managing their brands and the
strategic management tool also helps them to recognise the star products. Identifying and
categorising the star products help the company to gain extra profits within their business
threshold by enhancing their brand image and increasing the sales effectively.
In terms of investment, P&G majorly invests on their cash cow along with star products which
helps them to grow in an easy way within the competitive market (Ozkan, 2015, p. 1498). On the
other hand, investing in such products also helps the company to maximise their sales
effectively. Identification of the high selling products is a major advantage of the portfolio model
that significantly helps the company to compete with the existing competitor in the market. The
segregation of numerous departments in the company helps to expand their brand name.
2. Hierarchy management of different brands under P&G’s portfolio
According to Cheung (2017, p. 209), the portfolio management of the company helps them to
categorise their products accordingly for functional operations in an easy way. Along with that, it
also helps to classify their products which are highly responsible to retain success in their
business. The hierarchy management of the brand also helps the organisation to classify the
funds which are kept to develop the business. Not only it helps with the finance, the hierarchy
management of the organisations tend to operate the actual production process and manages the
entire business process as well. This leads the company to identify the ongoing changes within
the sales pattern which help them to manage the process as per the requirement.

Hierarchy management of P & G
(Source: Cheung 2017, p. 209)
The presence of the hierarchy management of the collected brands aids the company to
investigate the changes within their sales pattern and to take necessary steps for various
marketing strategies within different countries.
It is observed that in the case of the Tide detergent, the company has undertaken different kinds
of marketing strategies within the Indian market along with the American market as well. This
successfully gives the company to sustain in the competitive market with concrete brand
recognition.

Brand portfolio of the product hierarchy
(Source: Sinclair and Keller 2017, p. 180)
In the above illustration, all of the brands under the parent company are standing independently
in terms of their business work. Therefore, it is highly required for the company to run their
business in an effective way within the competitive market. Various kinds of marketing
strategies are seen to be adopted by the end of the company in different regions. It not only
fulfils the demands of the customer, it significantly helps to maximise their sales within the
global market.
3. Analysis of the undertaken strategies to manage the brand equity of P&G’s portfolio
As opined by Sinclair and Keller (2017, p. 185), the organization majorly uses different kinds of
strategies for managing the brand equity of their portfolio that helps them to run the business in
an efficient way within the competitive market. The company highly focuses on its successful
brands within their portfolio and they also tend to launch new products as a better strategy. As a
consequence, it helps them to retain more customers which lead them to gain further success
with their new products in an easy way. Moreover, the proper implementation of the products
within the same brand name can also help the o0rganisation to extend their sales very easily by

which they can enjoy more profit in their economy. Although, attracting the new customers with
the help of new products are also not very easy for which the company deploys strategy in order
to ensure the successful launch of the new products under the name of successful brands
(Tatoglu et al. 2016, p. 781).
Therefore, this can surely help them to encourage the new customers towards the underlying
brands which can result in building a successful image of the concerned company.
However, the company has to focus on each and every product to determine its success. Failing
to bring success on a single product can also affect the entire business process of the
organization. Therefore, it is highly required for the company to track their growth and to focus
on the products in a systematical order. In recent time, P & G has been found to face major
issues regarding their Gillette brand which has affected the entire sales of their products within
the worldwide market. By solving those issues can bring significant success and can also build a
strong image in the competitive market as well.
The concerned study has provided a successful understanding of the business performance of
P&G. Moreover, it has shed light over the competitive strategies along with the brand portfolio
hierarchy obtained by the brand.
Brand extension and leveraging
The notion of brand extension refers to the utilization of an established brand image or brand
name while launching new products in the market. It is often witnessed that the companies tend
to use the exact same brand name for various product categories (Iglesias et al. 2019, p. 243-
254). The usage of existing brand name and image helps the company to draw the attention of
the potential customers and enhances the chance of selling the product.
On the other hand leveraging generally refers to the degree of advantage, which the company
gains while launching a completely new product under the existing brand name and brand image.
In case of P&G, the company can use the existing brand name of Gillette for the seamless
launching of a new product and at the same time attracting potential customers towards the
product.
1. Strength of the brand for leveraging

There are a wide spectrum of brands available under the same hood of P&G and all of these
brands posses their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. The brand Gillette is available
under the umbrella of P&G and the brand name and brand image of the company has been
developed in such a way that it can easily attract the adult male customers effectively (Osuna
Ramírez et al. 2019, p. 260). The brand is known for manufacturing and selling skin care and
general well-being products and most of the products of the company are well accepted by male
consumers from all parts of the globe. The strengths of the brand are as follows:
 The customer care service of the company works very effectively and they try their best
to solve and mitigate every issues faced by the consumers, which facilitates the company
to attract potential customers.
 The quality of the products of Gillette is good and they sell their products in reasonable
price. Consumers of Gillette products feel that they are getting the proper value of their
money.
 The marketing department of Gillette makes the marketing policies and strategies in
complete alignment with the parent company P&G. Implementation of the right strategy
on part of Gillette brand facilitates the process of fulfilling the business goals of the
parent company effectively.
2. Weaknesses of the brand
Along with the strengths Gillette brand possess several weaknesses as well. These weaknesses
are capable of casting negative impacts towards the growth of the organization. The weaknesses
of the company are as follows:
 Upon inspection it has been found that the company does not utilize various marketing
channels effectively. This lackluster approach in promoting the products can negatively
impact the sales of the products (Oh et al. 2019, p. 231-241).
 The product placement strategy of the brand is marked for its lack of flexibility. It does
not allow the firm to formulate and implement innovative marketing strategies properly.
P&G should seriously think about adding new verities of products in their line up to cater to a
wider range of potential consumers. Furthermore, customization of the products as per the
demands of the customers can help in the process of attracting new customers towards the brand.

The company should focus more on formulating and implementing brand extension strategies to
improve the overall sales of the company and thus growing market share in the competitive
market.
3. Partnership and collaborative agreements
As opined by Keller et al.(2011, p. 278-282), collaborative and partnership agreements between
various brands under the hood of a parent organization play a pivotal role in facilitating the
process of earning better profit and growing market share effectively. Gillette can think about
collaborating with Olay, one of the finest brands of skin care products, to attract female
customers. It will help the company to cement its foothold in the competitive market easily.
It can be concluded that brand extension and leveraging are finest ways of utilizing the existing
brand image to increase the sales of new products by attracting potential customers while
launching a completely new product. It also facilitates the growth of market share in the
competitive market.
Using specific organizational example, provide an evaluation of various techniques used for
measuring and managing
Brand value plays an important role in gaining competitive advantage in the market. There are
various techniques that are prevalently used for managing and measuring brand value. They are
as follows:
I. Brand Value: In order to cement its foothold in the competitive market it becomes a necessity
to build brand value effectively. There is no doubt about the fact that establishing, formulating
and managing brand image and brand name is a daunting task and it demands serious attention
from the company. Upon inspection it has been found that P&G has several other brands under
the same hood. The parent company can use brand portfolio in order to manage all the
subordinate brands under the main company (Heding et al. 2015, p. 123-127). It would not be
unjustified to state that P&G is known for its beauty products, which makes it popular in the
market of United Kingdom. Brands like Pantene, Olay and Head & Shoulders have helped to
company to establish its brand image in the market effectively for a very long period. Olay has
earned a profit of 43.5 million dollar and Pantene have earned a profit of 5million dollars in the