Many companies have multiple brands within the same category that compete against themselves in the market. This is a marketing strategy common with larger companies and one of the ways they do these is through acquisitions. While it may seem counterintuitive to what the company wants to do, when a larger company acquires another, it aims to keep the most profitable parts of the market share. Often, when a company decides to compete with itself the idea is actually to beat the competition, although many can argue that it gives room for a monopolistic market. Here are several “rival” brands that are actually owned by the same company.
Mars, Twix and Snickers
Candy empire, Mar Inc owned by the Mars Family, one of America’s wealthiest families, is the producer of three of the best candies in the world. In 1930, the company created the Snickers bar , and later the year introduced the Mars Bar into the market. In 1967, the company manufactured Twix – a caramel shortbread chocolate bar.
The company also manufactures confectionery items such as Milky Way bars, M&M’s, Skittles, Orbit gum, etc.
Adidas and Reebok
Footwear Giants, Adidas and Reebok are owned by the same company. In the early 2000s, Reebok had established itself as an authority on athletic apparel, which not only shared from the market that was dominated by Adidas and Nike, but was fast becoming a strong competitor. In an effort to increase their market share in the United States, Adidas acquired Reebok to challenge the industry giant Nike.
Facebook and Instagram
Instagram and Facebook are the biggest Social Media platforms and the interesting thing is they are owned by one person -Mark Zuckerberg. According to Hootsuite, Facebook has a total of 2.91 billion monthly active users. In 2012, Facebook dished out $1 billion to acquire their then-largest competitor, Instagram. Just two years after the purchase of Instagram, Facebook acquired another social media platform, WhatsApp, for $19 billion, which competes with Facebook messenger.
Nike and Converse
Sometime ago, online commenters pledged to boycott the athletic footwear giants, Nike in favor of competitors like Converse, unaware the sneaker brand has been owned by Nike since 2003. The Beaverton, Oregon-based company also owns basketball shoemaker Air Jordan
Hyundai and Kia
The Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), owns both Hyundai and Kia motor brands. Kia as a brand was running well under Kia Motor Corporation, until in 1997, when hard times fell on the Corporation and they had to declare bankruptcy. To help save them, Hyundai, another South Korean auto manufacturer, bought 51% of Kia. As of March 31, 2011, Hyundai owns 33.7% of Kia Motors. The two car manufacturers are intense rivals that hit the exact same market demographic.
Tecno, Infinx and Itel
Techno, Infinix and Itel are three of the most popular and most used Android phone brands in Nigeria. Known for their affordability, beautiful designs, and high resolution camera, the three brands led by Tecno have made a name for themselves in the Mobile phone market. The Tecno Camon C8 helped the mobile phone manufacturer compete with market share of Samsung, and Apple in Africa.
These three phone brands are owned by Chinese group, Transsion Holdings. It was the largest smartphone manufacturer by sales in Africa in 2017.
Toyota and Lexus
Toyota is among the global leaders in the automotive industry. It isn’t a new thing that Toyota is about the most used car in Nigeria, however, Lexus has crept into the market and is giving Toyota a strong competition. Both car brands are owned by the Toyota Motor Corporation, which is headquartered in Japan. Both brands offer safe, and reliable cars, although in terms of luxury, Lexus edges Toyota. Actually, Lexus was established in the late ’80s to serve as Toyota’s luxury vehicle division.
Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini
Talk about fast and sophisticated cars made for the wealthy, then you describe these three car brands. Interestingly, these cars are owned by one of the biggest automobile groups, the German multinational automotive manufacturing company – Volkswagen Group, also known as Volkswagen AG.
In 1998, Volkswagen bought the three luxury brands: Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini. In 2012, it added Porsche to its list of ownership. Overall, the Volkswagen Group includes 15 brands and subsidiaries.
Expedia, Trivago, & Travelocity
You might have seen the advertisements of these three travel companies on different websites. When you want to book a hotel or flight, you have to make sure to check around to all the different sites to get the best deal, right? Well, it turns out that they’re all owned by the same company, Expedia Group, the American online travel shopping company for consumer and small business travel. The Expedia Group also owns travel & hospitality brands like Hotels.com, Vrbo, HomeAway, Orbitz, Hotwire, etc.
Dove,Lifebuoy,Lux, Pears soaps
There is hardly any superstore in Nigeria you get into where you won’t see any of these soaps. Well , Unilever owns all of these soap brands. One good thing about these soaps is that they are very cheap and good for the skin.
Close-up and Pepsodent
Two of the best toothpaste brands in the world are owned by the same company. While Closeup is a gel based toothpaste, Pepsodent is a cream based toothpaste. These toothpaste brands are also owned by Unilever. Closeup was launched in 1967 by Unilever as the first gel toothpaste.Pepsodent was purchased by Unilever in 1942, from Pepsodent Company of Chicago. Pepsodent is still sold as a Unilever property in all markets except the United States and Canada.