Name :- Sachin R.

Warang
Roll No :-EMBA07/A/25
Subject :- Strategic Brand Management

Conceptual Exercise :- Pick two diverse firms – one that is close to a branded
house and another that is close to house of brands. What are the branded
offerings ? Identify the subcategories in the Brand relationship spectrum

Ans :- I will like to map Brand Mahindra as Branded House

Mahindra Automotives :- M&M's automotive division was created in 1994
following an organisational restructuring, but its origins go back to 1954. That
was when the company entered into collaboration with Willys Overland
Corporation (now part of the DaimlerChrysler group) to import and assemble the
Willys Jeep for the Indian market. M&M began producing light commercial
vehicles (LCVs) in 1965.
Ever since its inception, the company has focused on developing its own
manufacturing capabilities. As a result of its relentless ambition in this direction,
M&M began indigenously producing vehicles within a short span of the
collaboration agreement with Willys.
Over the years the Mahindra brand in utility vehicles has come to represent high
quality, ruggedness, durability, reliability, easy maintenance and operational
economy. These are the qualities that have endeared the vehicle to individuals
as well as institutions such as the Indian armed forces. M&M enjoys a market
share of more than 50 per cent in this segment.

Broadly Mahindra Automotive business was divided into Jeep division and
Tractor division. Under both the categories ,there are multiple models like the
tractors are coming in 4 categories ranging HP from 18-27 HP to 58-67 HP.All
tractors are with model numbers like 1810HST,2015 4 WD,3525,66014 WD 48-
57 HP,6500 ,ETC. Everywhere the tractor comes with Mahindra in Bold letters
and then the subsequent model number ,only their latest development Shan
tractor came with Shan in Bold and then Mahindra followed by it. But as per the
preliminary market survey again they have changed the logo to Mahindra in Bold
in front and then followed by Shan which is the model name It shows that
Mahindra is the most trusted name in Indian market ,and farmers are taking
Mahindra as token of assurance about Quality and performance .It proves the
theory behind the Branded House.

Club Mahindra Holidays – Mahindra holidays and resorts India Ltd ,part of
Rs.17100 crose Mahindra group,is a company firmly on the growth path.Today
Club Mahindra has over 40000 satisfied members.Club Mahindra’s mission is to
enrich and enliven people’s lives by making family holiday a part of their lifestyle.
Fun and games, indoor and outdoor activities, designed specifically to cater to all
ages and specific recreational facilities ensure that every holiday you take will be
special- is Clun Mahindra’s promise.. The service in all the resorts is professional
and highly personalized. You can choose from the different rooms/apartments
available, a variety of restaurants, and holiday activities for all seasons and all
ages .There are many Holiday and tour operators are available in India like COX
AND KINGS,SOTC,BAJAJ ,KAMATs, etc ,so starting a new business was
challenging .But when a potential customer looks Mahindra behind the service
he get the feeling of trust and assurance.

Kotak - Mahindra :- Kotak Mahindra is a leading Financial Management

company which gives standard as well as tailor made solutions to financial
aspects of their customers ,company primarily deals with Banking and savings
,loans and borrowings, Corporate and institutional, Investment and insurance
.Kotak is a trusted name in Financial field where as Mahindra is widely
acceptable in all levels of society due to it’s business context in different areas
like Automotive ,IT, Telecommunications ,etc. So both the brands are working as
co-brands to each other.

Tech Mahindra – IT Solutions and Telecommunication network Solutions :- Tech

Mahindra's focus on R&D Services in the TEM space, entails providing solutions
to leading Telecom Equipment Manufacturers (TEM) in the areas of Research
& Development (R&D), Product Engineering and Life Cycle Support, rich telecom
heritage and technology expertise, learn how the proven solutions can deliver
measurable business value to the enterprise. understand the business imperative
to transform business from legacy to next generation. understand your business
imperative to transform your business from legacy to next generation. Find out
how we can deliver real business transformations.

From above example it is very clear that Mahindra is a master brand moves
from being a primary driver to the dominant one, while the descriptive sub-brand
goes from having a minority role to little or none at all. The master brand gives
the umbrella under which many of it’s business operates .This strategy may go
wrong if any of their particular sector starts performing badly then customer
perception about the other sectors also got affected .In addition to it the different
services are describing their offers quite clearly so customers knows what is
being offered under Mahindra’s assurance .A branded house usually maximizes
synergy ,as participation creates associations and visibility that can help in
another. The Branded house options provides leverage- the master brand works
harder in more contexts.

P & G :- House of Brands :- The contrast between a branded house and a

house of brands vividly describes the two extremes of alternative brand
architectures. While a branded house uses a single master brand like sony ,Nike
to span a set of offerings that operate with only descriptive sub-brands ,a house
of brands contains independent, unconnected brands.
In a house of Brands strategy, each independent stand-alone brand maximizes
its impact on a market. Procter & Gamble is a house of brands that operates over
80 major brands with little connection to P&G or to each other .In doing so P&G
sacrifices the economies of scale and synergies that come with leveraging a
brand across multiple businesses .In addition ,those brands that cannot support
investment themselves (especially the third or fourth P&G entry in a category)risk
stagnation and decline ,and P&G sacrifices brand leverage in that the individual
brands tend to have narrow range.
The P&G house of brands strategy ,however allows firms to clearly position
brands on their functional benefits and to dominate niche segments.
Compromises do not have to be made in the positioning of a given brand to
accommodate its use in other product-market contexts .Instead ,the brand
connects directly to the niche customer with a targeted value proposition. P&G ‘s
brand strategy in the hair care category category illustrates how a house of
brands works. Head & Shoulders dominates the dandruff-control shampoo
category. Per plus ,the perky category pioneer ,targets the market for a combined
conditioner and shampoo product. Pantene ( ‘For hair so healthy it shines’),a
brand with a technological heritage ,focuses on the segment concerened with
enhancing hair vitality. The total impact of these three brands would be lessened
if- instead of three distinct brands-they were restricted to a single brand or even
were branded as P&G dandruff Control ,P&G Healthy hair shampoo ,etc. P&G
detergents are similarly well positioned to serve niche markets:Tide (tough
cleaning job),Cher (all temperature),Dash( concentrated powder),etc provide
focused value propositions that could not be achieved by a single P&G detergent
brand.
Targeting niche markets with functional benefit positions is not the only reason
for using a house of brands strategy .Other reasons could be
Avoiding a brand association that would be incompatible with an offering.
Sgnaling breakthrough advantages of new offerings.
Owing a new product class association by using a powerfull name that reflects a
key benefit.
Avoiding or minimizing channel conflicts.

There are intermediate categories like – Shadow endorser – A shadow

endorser brand is not connected visibly to the endorsed brand ,but many
consumer know about the link. This subcategory in the house of brands strategy
provides some of the advantages of having a known organization backing the
brand ,while minimizing in association contamination .It communicates that the
organization realizes that the shadow –endorsed brand represents a totally
different product and market segment.For example , many people ,know that
Head & Shoulders and Pantene are made by the same company.

Endorsed Brand :- In this category we can say Mahindra Scorpio is a endorsed

brand .It is very different than their other Jeep brands and they positioned it in car
segment .They always advertised it as Scorpio with endorsement from
Mahindra .It is positioned for entirely different customer segment who want to use
SUV type jeep but they want the prestige of upper segment car. Mahindra has a
very good reputation in Jeep performance so don’t want to loose the Brand
backing .So with every aspect Scorpio launching was with a good strategy.
 For rest of the Mahindra Products where –Mahindra comes first and then the
business comes like Mahindra Holidays ,Mahindra telecom ,etc but in Scorpio
case ,it’s Scorpio which comes everywhere first and then supported by Mahindra
Brand name.

Token Endorser :- A variant of the endorsed brands strategy is the use of a

token endorser (usually a master brands strategy involved in several product-
market context),which is substantially less prominent than the endorsed brand. In
chosen cases ,in future suppose Mahindra thinks about entering into Tire
manufacturing for all type of vehicles then ,Token endorser theory can be applied
,which will give them entry into vehicles other than Tractor and Jeeps. Where as
back of the mind people are aware that they got a huge experience in Automotive
sector and that will add the good will.

The Brand Relationship Spectrum :-

The brand relationship spectrum, portrayed ,helps to position the various
product-market context role options. It recognizes that these options define a
continuum which involves four basic strategies and nine sub-strategies .The four
basic strategies are :
House of Brands
Endorsed Brands
Sub brands under a master brand
A branded house
With chosen two Brands example , we can see the relationship as

Brand Relationship Spectrum

Branded Endorsed
House of Brands
House Brands
Strong
Different Shadow Not
Endorsem
Identity Endorser Connected
ent

Mahindra Scorpio by Pantene

Tide ( P&G)
Automotive Mahindra (P&G)
Mahindra
tech &
telecommun
ication

From above analysis ,we came to know how different companies adopt different
strategies in similar business scenario and what is the rationale behind it.