From brand clutter to portfolio clarity

Most multi-brand portfolios grow through a mix of mergers, acquisitions, and opportunistic launches. Growth adds value—but also complexity, overlap, and strategic questions. Referent helps teams move from brand clutter to clarity, driving alignment and focused growth.

What is brand portfolio strategy?

Managing a multi-brand portfolio requires strategy at both the individual brand level and the portfolio level. A collection of strong brands doesn’t automatically create a strong brand portfolio. Why? Because brands within a portfolio interact in ways that can be either complementary or counterproductive.

Brand portfolio strategy defines the number and position of brands with the goal of maximizing total value while minimizing cost and complexity. Brand architecture is a closely related step that defines the relationship between these brands.

The ideal portfolio:

  • Each brand has a clear, distinct market position

  • No brands are redundant or competing with each other

  • Adjacent brands provide cross-marketing opportunity

  • No truly relevant market opportunity is left untapped

  • The relationships between brands are clear and complementary

STEP ONE

Brand portfolio review

Referent assesses your current portfolio to collect high-level insights about each brand, your market context, and your business goals.

QUESTION

METHOD

What is our shared focus?

Internal interviews

What is the shape of our market?

Competitive research

What are each brand’s strengths?

Equity assessment

STEP TWO

Brand portfolio rationalization

With a profile of each brand, we create a portfolio map and explore the pros and cons of different portfolio scenarios.

Where can we simplify?

Portfolio rationalization

METHOD

QUESTION

Brand portfolio mapping

Where should we expand?

Brand portfolio mapping

How does each brand stay distinct?

Audience segmentation

Who should each brand serve?

STEP THREE

Brand architecture strategy

Once a portfolio strategy is in place, brand architecture further defines the relationship between the brands in a portfolio.

How should the parent and child brands relate?

Brand hierarchy definition

Brand structure selection

What’s our ideal brand structure?

METHOD

QUESTION

  • As few as possible while maintaining brand focus and capturing market opportunities

  • The most consistent, understandable structure you can achieve without overly disrupting your current brand equity

  • When the connection between the brand and service is so indirect that the service drags the brand down instead of the brand lifting the service up

  • Clearly differentiate using at least one of the following: audience, product / service, or use occasion.

  • Avoid it unless it adds more clarity than complexity for your audience

  • When a portfolio generally has a shared audience or is seeking to connect with investors, a parent brand creates transfer of trust and boosts collective value

  • This is most likely an internal question that won’t mean much to your audiences. Give each brand the right job and let it lead that job.

  • Prioritize how well each brand is optimized for its job. It’s more important to align internal teams than to align brands externally.

  • Find the values that all the brand teams have in common and build a shared culture around those values.

  • Loss aversion is usually loudest—”Are you going to ruin what I like or value?” Lead with assurance, follow with what will improve.

Portfolio strategy Q&A

Simplified answers to common customer questions.

Portfolio strategy case study

Want a harder-working portfolio?

Reach out to learn how Referent can help you re-work your brand portfolio to align with your goals and unlock growth.