Multi-Brand Strategies in Mobile Markets

Abstract

With the saturation of European markets, MNOs need to find new ways of winning market share, ideally that do not involve reducing prices to users to the point where profitability and, ultimately, shareholder value is negatively impacted. Some MNOs have moved away from the concept of a Global brand to reinforce their marketing message and are choosing instead to deliver their services through multiple brands, each of which is attuned to a specific target segment. This should enable them to extend their reach within their own markets and to defend the market share they already have. In this report, we examine some examples of multi-brand strategies from North America, Europe and the Far East in order to assess whether this approach has been successful so far and what are the critical success factors if a multi-brand strategy is to be introduced. Following the analysis, we make recommendations in six areas to MNOs that operate within saturating markets that may need to consider implementing a multi-brand strategy in the immediate future.