The purest form of brand marketing is a standalone product. It uses the name of the corporation in its branding – the two are one and the same. It’s when companies have more than one product or brand that things get intertwined.
Take Mars, for example. The company makes a number of products, including M&Ms, Skittles, and even Whiskas cat food. The company's brand positioning focuses more on innovation and being a long-standing leader in its field, while its product brands each have their own unique brand identity.
Corporate branding is much broader and encompasses the entire company and all of its products. This is what you use on your corporate website and marketing.
Product brands are more nuanced and tailored to the individual product. The goal is to differentiate a product in its niche.
Some companies choose to create a brand family, where all the products share the name of the company even though they’re different. Campbell’s is a great example of a brand family with its diverse line of soups all under the Campbell’s name. The company has also expanded into a multi-brand company with its line of Campbell’s Chunky, Well Yes!, Slow Kettle Style, and Homestyle soups.
But for companies that sell a diverse product line, such as diapers and cleaning products, using a single brand or a brand family might prove to be tricky. That’s why companies like Procter & Gamble opt for individual product brands.
Product brands often tie back to the corporate brand in some way. But the key difference is that product brands have visuals and personality traits that are separate from the company that makes them.