ABSTRACT
Monolithic branding allows firms the flexibility to constantly re-configure the firm in line with commercial pressures, without the need to consider the complexities of changing corporate branding. Alternatively some firms choose to brand the corporate parent and its subsidiaries different and separately, termed "branded" corporate branding. Those marketers who hold product, service and brand management responsibilities face many different and varied challenges when managing their portfolio of brands. Within service firms, for instance financial services firms, there is a trend towards marketers taking a branded approach to their branding structures, by constructing a brand for banking, another for mortgages and so on. However, certainly within the financial services market, consumers prefer services to be corporately branded across the whole service portfolio, viewing the services offered by one firm as part of one single corporate brand. The firm should also consider if appropriate financial investment is being applied to build brand equity and if the brand portfolio is balanced.
