Sub-branding: what is it and why you should (or shouldn’t) do it

If you work in marketing — or even if you don’t — you’ll likely have a pretty good idea of what a sub-brand is. Most of us understand it as a secondary or subsidiary brand, owned by, but distinct from the main brand.

Nike’s Jordan and Sony’s PlayStation are well-known examples — and there’s an argument to say that a sub-brand’s success is measured by how much it has a life of its own.?

According to Statista, Jordan has an 11% market share in its own right, second only to Nike’s (main brand) 18% — and 2% higher than German sportswear giant Adidas. PlayStation has been its own entity since 1994 so it’s easy to forget they’re a part of Sony.

But when we look a bit deeper, it can sometimes be difficult to separate a sub-brand from a popular product or business department. Many people believe the iPhone to be a sub-brand of Apple, or Diet Coke a sub-brand of Coca-Cola. And are FedEx’s many specialised disciplines each their own sub-brand??

To analyse this, we’re going to focus on three areas: visual identity, tone of voice, and audience — and also give you an idea of why sub-branding might be the way to go for your brand.

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Visual identity?

The strongest sub-brands have a distinct and ownable visual identity. How far this identity is removed from the parent brand is at the discretion of the marketing team — and there are benefits to both approaches.?

The two mobile phone megabrands — Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy — provide a relevant comparison. Often cited as one of the most successful examples of a sub-brand, iPhone’s visual identity is almost identical to that of the Apple main brand. You’ll find the same fonts, colour treatments, photography style and so on.?

We wouldn’t be so foolish as to question the impact of Apple/iPhone as a brand — they’re clearly doing a lot right. We would, however, challenge the idea of iPhone being a bona fide sub-brand for the reasons we’ve laid out above. A flagship product, yes. A living, breathing brand in its own right? Not in our opinion.?

Samsung Galaxy makes a stronger case for being a distinctive sub-brand. When you hold a Galaxy advert up against an ad for a Samsung TV, for example, you can see the differences — some stark, some more subtle.?

Galaxy marketing is bold and minimalistic. Less ‘traditional’ than that of the TV ads which focus on more technical product details. When it comes to TV, Samsung are selling their product — the Galaxy are selling a lifestyle.

This comes through in the respective webpages, too. The Samsung main brand is more cluttered and copy heavy. Galaxy opts for punchy headlines and blown-up product shots.

Interestingly, the fonts and general colour palette are the same, proving an association and consistency with the main brand. Galaxy, however, has its own portfolio of products, from watches to cases. These are Galaxy branded, as opposed to Samsung branded — unlike iPhone accessories which are Apple branded.?? ??

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Tone of voice

Similarly to visual identity, the most impactful sub-brands speak in a different voice to their parent.?

Take Microsoft’s Xbox brand, for example. When the tech giant entered the gaming sphere in the early 2000s, they knew that the target audience would generally be different to that of their Windows operating system or their emailing service — every kid wanted an Xbox, very few were interested in Excel.?

To appeal to a whole new demographic they couldn’t use the same tone of voice they were using to connect with the audience who were in the market for work-related applications. Now, 20 years later, Xbox is its own strong and distinct brand with an ownable voice. Let’s take a look at some of the language used in advertisements for both the parent brand and the sub-brand.?

Last year’s promotion for the Xbox Series X/S featured phrases like “Wake up and dream”, “Power your dreams”, and “Don’t think — dream”. Clearly, they’re big fans of the “dream” concept, but it is revealing of their overall approach of evoking fantasy and adventure. Dynamic verbs give the messaging a sense of energy and action — we’re being invited into a world where we’re not just a player, but the hero of our own story.?

On the Microsoft main website, you find a lot more every day, down-to-earth language, sprinkled with more evocative and inspirational vocabulary choices such as “Unlock your potential” and “unleash your creativity”. The copy is more benefit-led: you’re told that Microsoft Copilot “gets things done faster” — Xbox doesn’t tell you that “you’ll have lots of fun”.

Audience

Sub-brands tend to have an audience that’s separate and distinct from the parent brand. This can often be seen most starkly in beauty/grooming/skincare brands who may have traditionally targeted women and want to pivot to marketing to men.

Take Dove, for example. Dove is a progressive and socially conscious brand who’ve been trailblazers in challenging the unrealistic beauty standards set for women through their Self-Esteem Project and Real Beauty initiatives. With this in mind, their Dove Men sub-brand doesn’t lean too heavily into gender stereotypes, but there are some very notable differences.

The colour shift is the first thing that jumps out. Dove delivers whites, creams, and soft pastel tones, whereas we see steel greys, charcoals, and electric blues for Dove Men. They use language like “triple-action technology”, whilst we see copy more along the lines of “nourishing” and “soothing” with the parent brand.

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Why create a sub-brand?

There are loads of reasons why a business might want to launch a sub-brand, but the leading motivator is often the desire to appeal to a new audience, or a more specific segment of an existing audience.??

A sub-brand enables a main brand to build and sustain a relationship with this audience through distinctive messaging, a fresh look and feel, and a different tone of voice — all with relatively little risk to the main brand’s reputation.?

To reference the Jordan example again, if the basketball star-inspired sub-brand had crashed and burned in its infancy, Nike would have been able to quietly sweep it under the rug, never to be heard of again and no major harm done. Of course, the reality turned out to be far different (and far more lucrative).?

Of course, there are some cons to sub-branding — namely the time and effort required to maintain it alongside your main brand. If you’re going to create one, then it would be wise to plan the necessary resources so you can avoid it becoming diluted and forgettable. With all the examples we’ve spoken about, you get the sense that each has had a similar level of dedication and focus invested in it.?

It's important to note that the elements discussed in this article make our definition of a sub-brand — we even had some friendly debate in the studio. There’s a school of thought that once a brand becomes almost totally independent — à la Xbox — it ceases to be a sub-brand.?

In any case, your sub-brand should have a purpose, as well as a visual identity, tone of voice, and audience that has been carefully considered and, crucially, is differentiated from the main brand.?

What makes a successful sub-brand in your eyes?

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