Journal of Marketing Management

Evaluating the House of Brands Strategy Using Brand Equity and Intra-Firm Loyalty
Anthony Koschmann

Abstract
A common strategy of large firms is to own several brands in the same product category space (i.e., the „house of brands‟) to segment the market and leverage product capacity and distribution networks. However, a purely financial view of this strategy often overlooks whether these brands have truly segmented the market to find loyal consumer segments or the value of the brand relative to the competitive space. This research proposes evaluating the house of brands strategy through two measures: brand loyalty when competing against its sibling brands (intra-firm loyalty) and the brand‟s ability to generate value to consumers (brand equity). A framework using these two measures proposes four brand types (resonant, change of pace, niche, do-or-die). The framework is examined using large-scale household purchases of laundry detergent brands from two large firms. The results show that each firm has brands occupying varying positions in the framework, with a linkage between intra-firm loyalty and brand equity. Importantly, some brands are seemingly kept in the marketplace despite neither finding a loyal consumer segment nor generating brand equity. The research concludes with managerial implications in using the framework as a tool for evaluating the house of brands strategy.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jmm.v7n1a8