Corporate Branding vs. Consumer Branding : Krafting the Mondelez Name
The attempt to use corporate brand equity to create valuable product brand recognition is known as "Corporate branding". It is also known as umbrella or family brand and the company uses its own name in branding products rather than giving them unique individual brands of their own. Disney, IBM, Heinz are examples of companies using corporate branding of products while promoting them to their consumers.
A very interesting case of Corporate branding which raised certain eyebrows was Kraft's decision to name its snacks division as "Mondelez International". The tough pronunciation of the brand name and its meaning left the media confused and asking for explanations.
According to Kraft Foods Chairman and CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, the Mondelez brand would offer a solid foundation for the strong relationship with its customers, consumers, employees and shareholders. However it was not clear whether Mondelez would be established as a consumer brand or remains purely as a corporate brand. If it was to have a unique product identity then the case for the difficult pronunciation and vagueness in meaning stood its ground. However if corporate branding was to be used then it really did not matter.
There are many companies that resist from corporate branding and individual branding of the products exists in their promotion. For example very few of us are aware that Tide, Gillette, Pantene, Duracell, etc are not using corporate branding of Procter and Gamble which is their umbrella brand.
So it remains to be seen whether Mondelez will be established as a consumer brand where suppliers, customers and retailers will have to deal with problems in pronunciation and transparency in meaning or corporate branding will make things easier.