Sub-branding is a strategy used to create a major brand secondary or affiliate brands, each with its own identity and logo but associated with the parent brand.

Many large companies will turn to new business ideas after seeing success in their markets. In this case, they will start sub-branding and attract specific markets or customer needs. Read more about what sub-branding is, the differences between a parent brand and a sub-brand, the pros and cons of sub-branding, the considerations that businesses may make before sub-branding, and examples of sub-brand categories.

What is sub-branding?

Sub-branding is the creation of a separate but related brand that has similar qualities to a company's parent brand but usually has its own logo, standards, products, and services.

Sub-brands typically maintain the same colour palette, imagery, and marketing strategies. Some companies create sub-brands in such a way that they can reach different audiences, increase profits and keep the interests of current customers.

These brands usually appear under the parent brand instead of appearing on their own. For example, a popular soft drink company might create a sub-brand that offers diet versions or special edition flavours of the same drinks. That company typically displays ads for these new flavours next to or within ads for the company's original products.

Brand vs sub-brand

Originality

Parent brands include their own original logos, marketing campaigns, product lines, and identities. The parent brand has nothing to do with the other influential brands above them. Sub-brands may consist of different product lines and so on, but they are related to the original identity of the parent brand.

Brands usually share the same logos, purpose, and sub-brands as the parent brands, and they may even share the same customers. Parent brands often greatly influence the actions of sub-brands.

Target markets

Sub-brands often develop the parent brand's market by targeting specific niches in other markets. A parent brand actually establishes a presence in a market and focusses on the needs of customers in that market, but it may create multiple sub-brands to target many other markets.

Customer requirements

Due to the presence in other markets and the presentation of new or improved products, sub-brands can meet the needs of customers more accurately and successfully than the parent brand. Sub-brands can fill a gap in a particular market or successfully target other customers while supporting the parent brand with slightly different products or branding.

Parent brands typically act as the common owner of a product or group of sub-brands, while sub-brands customise and develop those products to meet customer needs.

Things to Consider Before Creating a Sub-Brand

Ask yourself these questions before planning and budgeting for a new sub-brand for a business:

Will the parent brand benefit from the sub-brand?

Do you need to sell branded products? Is it necessary for the market?

Does the sub-brand fit in with the overall message and personality of the parent brand?

Does the parent brand have the necessary funding and resources to maintain a sub-brand?

What elements of the parent company are valued by customers? How do they appear in the sub-brand?

How might this sub-brand affect the reputation of the parent brand?

What distinguishes a sub-brand from a parent brand?

How does the parent branding influence the overall marketing strategy and customer communication strategy of the company?

Examples of sub-brands

Sub-brands are extensions of a parent brand that target a specific audience or often offer specific products / services with their own distinct identity. Here's are some examples:

Alphabet Inc. (parent company: Google)

• YouTube
• Google Cloud
• Waymo (self-driving cars)

Microsoft

• Xbox
• Linkedin
• Microsoft Office

Unilever

• Dove
• Ben & Jerry's
• Lipton

Toyota

• Lexus (luxury vehicles)
• Zion (now discontinued)

the Volkswagen Group

• Audi
• Porsche
• Lamborghini

The Coca-Cola Company

• Sprite
• Fanta
• Minute Maid

PepsiCo

• Gatorade
• Quaker
• Mountain dew

The Marriott International

• Ritz-Carlton (Luxury)
• Courtyard by Marriott (Business travellers)
• Moxy Hotels (Millennial Focused)

Nike

• Air Jordan
• Converse (owned by Nike)
• Nike SB (skateboarding)

LVMH (Moit Hennessy Louis Vuitton)

• Louis Vuitton
• Sephora
• Hennessy Copy Paraphrase