Kellogg on Branding in a Hyper-Connected World

CHAPTER 3Creating a Powerful Brand Portfolio

Tim Calkins

In 2014, executives at investment banking giant Goldman Sachs identified a promising new growth opportunity: consumer lending. The firm had long focused on high–net worth individuals and business clients, but the outlook for these businesses was somewhat troubled. Expanding into a new segment, consumer lending, could provide incremental growth.¹

The problem, however, was that the Goldman Sachs brand was not ideal for consumer banking. Dustin Cohn, head of brand management and communications, explained the problem: “When you called it ‘Goldman Sachs,’ consumers said, ‘Well, I’ve heard of Goldman Sachs, but that’s not for me—that’s for wealthy people and institutions.”² The other problem was that offering small consumer loans might damage the Goldman Sachs brand’s reputation as a partner for wealthy families and corporate titans.

Goldman resolved this issue by introducing a new brand, Marcus, to offer personal loans and savings accounts to individuals. The firm used a brand endorsement structure, calling the new firm Marcus by Goldman Sachs to tap into the power of the Goldman brand. Since the launch in 2016, Marcus has grown rapidly; by 2018 Marcus had more than 1.5 million customers and had made $3 billion in loans.³

Goldman’s move to introduce a new endorsed brand is a perfect example of a brand portfolio decision. These portfolio moves are complicated and important. In some respects, managing a portfolio is branding’s ...