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Vanitha Swaminathan, Niraj Dawar, John Hulland So You Want to Buy a Brand?

RM/07/015

Maastricht research school of Economics of TEchnology and ORganizations Universiteit Maastricht Faculty of Economics and Business Administration P.O. Box 616 NL - 6200 MD Maastricht phone fax : ++31 43 388 3830 : ++31 43 388 4873

So You Want to Buy a Brand?

Vanitha Swaminathan1 Niraj Dawar2 John Hulland3

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Vanitha Swaminathan is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA 15260. email: vanitha@katz.pitt.edu, ph: (412) 648-1579.

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Niraj Dawar is the R.A. Barford Professor of Marketing, Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, and currently Visiting Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, 1 Ayer Rajah Ave., Singapore, 138676 email: niraj.dawar@insead.edu

3

John Hulland is Associate Professor of Marketing, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, email: jhulland@katz.pitt.edu, Tel: (412) 648-1534.

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So You Want to Buy a Brand? A company’ brand portfolio serves as its link to customers and markets, protects s it from competitors, and provides it with a degree of channel power. Historically, brand portfolios were built, brand by painstaking brand, over decades. But the realities of today’ fast-paced and highly competitive marketplace mean that companies cannot s afford to rely solely on brands built from scratch. Consumer preferences change, yesterday’ star brands are today’ dogs, new segments emerge, and established s s competitors and nimble start-ups are quick to spot and respond to new opportunities. A brand portfolio that does not continually evolve to meet the changing strategic needs of the market risks becoming obsolete. At the same time, building brands has never been more costly, nor more fraught with risk. For example, a national brand launch in the grocery category can cost a company more than $200 million once media,...