G am ble.T he consum er products giant ignored C am ay b u t la v ish e d m o n e y a n d a tte n tio n o n its fla g sh ip p ro d u c t, Iv o ry . N a tu ra lly , Iv o ry sta y e d th e le a d e r w h ile C a m a y s tru g - g le d fo r s u rv iv a l. D is m a y e d , M c E lro y d ra fte d

m anagem ent system . O nly then w o u ld e a c h o fi t s b ra n d s h a v e a d e d ic a te d b u d g e t a n d m a n - agerial team

m em o b e c a m e th e b a sis o n w h ic h m o s t c o rp o ra tio n s , in c lu d in g P& G , have m anaged

it, M cE lroy p o s ite d th a t th e c o m p a n y 's b ra n d s w o u ld fig h t w ith e a c h other for both resources and m arket share. Each "brand m a n 's "o b je c tiv e w o u ld b e to e n s u re th a t h is b ra n d b e - cam e a w inner even if that happened

Seven-plus decades have gone by since M cElroy w rote h is fa m o u s m e m o , b u t b ra n d k illin g h a s re m a in e d a n u n - w ritte n

extensions, not to m ention channel extensions and subbrands, to cater to th e g ro w in g n u m b e r o f n ic h e s e g m e n ts in e v e ry m a rk e t, a n d

a t- tract custom ers. Surprisingly, m ost businesses do not ex- a m in e th e ir b ra n d p o rtfo lio s fro m

a sm all num ber of brands - sm aller than even the 80/20 rule of thum b suggests.In reality, m any corporations gen- erate8 0 % to 90%

D ia g e o , th e w o rld 's la rg e s t s p irits c o m p a n y , so ld 35 brands of liquor in som e 170 countries in1 9 9 9 . Just eight o f th o s e b r a n d s - B a ile y s liq u e u r, C a p ta in

rum , C u e rv o te q u ila , S m irn o ff v o d k a , T a n q u e ra y g in , G u in n e s s stout, and J&B and Johnnie W alker whiskeys-provided the com pany w ith m ore than5 0 % of its sales and7 0 % of its profits.

w ere global brands, 140- odd w ere regional brands, and the rem aining7 ,8 0 0 or so w e r e lo c a lb ra n d s . T h e h u lk o f t h e c o m p a n y 's p ro fits c a m e fro m

P ro c te r & G a m b le h a d a p o rtfo lio o f o v e r 2 5 0 b ra n d s th a t it so ld in m o re th a n i6 o c o u n trie s . Y et th e c o m p a n y 's ten biggest brands-w hich

in c lu d e P a m p e rs d ia p e rs , T id e detergent, and Bounty paper products-accounted for5 0 % of the com pany's sales, m ore than 50% of its profits, and

T h e im p lic a tio n s a re in e s c a p a b le . C o m p a n ie s c a n b o o s t p ro fits b y d e le tin g lo ss-m a k in g b ra n d s . W h a t's m o re , e v e n th o u g h

lo y a l o n e s .In fact, m ost attem p ts at b ran d d eletio n fail; several s tu d ie s sh o w th a t a fte r c o m p a n ie s c lu b b e d to g e th e r sev - e ra l b ra n d s o r s w itc h e d fro m

s u g g e s ts th a t y o u m a y h a v e to o m a n y lo ss-m a k in g o r m a rg in a lly p ro fita b le b ra n d s , y o u w ill h a v e to p ru n e y o u r p o rtfo lio (see the sidebar "Q uick Test: D o You H ave Too

B rands?").Your first priority will be to get m anagers at all levels of the organization to back you because brand dele- tion is a traum atic process.Brand and country m anagers, w hose careers are w rapped up in their brands, never take easily to the idea.C ustom ers and channel partners defend even inconsequential and loss-m aking brands.There will alw ays be pressure from

senior executives to retain brands fo r s e n tim e n ta l o r h is to ric a l re a s o n s . In d e e d , b ra n d ra tio - n a liz a tio n p ro g ra m s h a v e o fte n b e c o m e so b o g g e d d o w n b y p o litic s a n d tu rf b a ttle s th a t m a n y c o m p a n ie s a re p a r- alyzed by the m ere prospect.

It doesn't have to be that w ay. O ver the last ten years, I h a v e s tu d ie d th e b ra n d ra tio n a liz a tio n p ro g ra m s a t m o re th a n a d o z e n c o m p a n ie s in th e U n ite d S ta te s a n d E u ro p e ,

e c o n o m ie s o fs c a l e . N a tu ra lly , th o s e h id d e n c o s ts d e c lin e w hen com panies reduce the num ber of brands they sell. In fact, som e businesses have im proved perform ance

d e le tin g n o t ju s t lo s s -m a k in g b ra n d s b u t a ls o d e c lin in g , w e a k , a n d m a rg in a lly p ro fita b le b ra n d s . T h e y 'v e u s e d th e resources they've freed

a ttra c tiv e t o c u s to m e rs . T h u s , k illin g brands m ay som etim es be the best w ay for com panies to serve both custom ers and shareholders.

in c lu d in g A k z o N o b e l, E le c tro lu x , S a raL ee, U n ile v e r, a n d V odafone. T he best com panies use a sim ple four-step pro- cess to o p tim iz e tb e ir b ra n d p o rtfo lio s, w h ic h

g ro u p s o f s e n io r e x e c u tiv e s in J o in t a u d its o f th e b ra n d p o rtfo lio . S u c h a u d its a re u se fu l b e c a u s e m o s t e x e c u tiv e s d o n o t k n o w