Kill a brand, keep a customer

Reality:
Most brands don't make money for companies.
Companies can boost profits by deleting loss-making brands.
Most attempts at brand deletion fail.
When companies drop brands clumsily, they antagonize customers, particularly loyal ones.
Brand rationalization programs have often become so bogged down by politics and turf battles.

Perils of proliferation (Multi-brand):
Non-differentiation - Cases: GM
Inefficiency
Lower bargaining power against retailers
Complexity

Four step process to optimize brand portfolios:
1. Make the case: Audit existing brand portfolio. Assess each brand for its Global M/S, Market position, Brand positioning, and Cash status.
2. Prune the portfolio
   A. Portfolio approach: Choose to keep only those brands that conform to certain broad parameters, e.g. Brand power, Brand growth potential, Brand scale - Cases: GE, Unilever
   B. Segment approach: Identify the brands they need in order to cater to all the consumer segments in each market - Cases: Electrolux
3. Liquidating brands: Merge, Sell, Milk, or Kill (in order from the most complex to the simplest to execute)
4. Growing the core brands: Companies can reap the benefits of brand deletion only if they reinvest the funds and management time they have freed either into the surviving brands or into discerningly launching new ones.

Source: Kill a brand, keep a customer, HBR, Dec 2003