Behind The Superbrands: Fashion, Food, Household and Media

We live in a world where brands fascinate us as consumers. In general, we are pleased when we have the branded version rather than the discount version. This goes for anything from food, drinks, household, electronics, fashion, personal care and everything in between. Multinationalism even affects what you watch on television and what you read in the newspaper. Continuing on from my beauty brand obsessed posts (click here, here and here to read more - and in that order), I was curious to understand more behind the world's largest consumer controllers. Similarly to my previous post, keep in my mind that ownership and shareholders change regularly and so what you read below is subject to the developing market. 

Behind The Beauty Brand: Who Owns What?

Unilever

Founded in 1929, Anglo-Dutch consumer goods multinational Unilever owns a multitude of beauty, food and household brands that is worth billions. Unilever provides to products to an international market. Brands include Axe/Lynx, Dove, Becel/Flora/Promise, Hellmann's, Knorr, Wall's, Lipton, Lux, Rexona/Sure, Surf, Sunsilk, Ben & Jerry's, TRESemmé, Magnum, V05, Toni & Guy, Klondike, Starbucks, Breyers, Slim Fast,  Bovril, Brooke Bond, Bru, Brummel & Brown, Tonight, Colman's, Elmlea, Fudgsicle, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Jif Lemon & Lime Juice, Marmite, PG Tips, Pot Noodle, Stork, Skipper, Brut, Brylcreem, Citra, Cif, Comfort, Domestos, Impulse, Just For Kids, Matey, Pears Transparent Soap,  Persil, Pond's,  Q-Tips,  Radox, Simple, St Ives, Sunlight, Surf,  Thermasilk, TIGI, Timotei, Ultrex, Vaseline.

Behind The Beauty Brand: Who Owns What?

Procter & Gamble

Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P & G is another billion dollar consumer conglomerate. Similar to Unilever, P & G provides beauty, food and household goods to an international market. Brands include Ariel, Bounty, Braun, Charmin, Crest, Downy, Febreze, Gilette, Head & Shoulders, Lenor, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene, Vicks, Wella, Ace, Bold, Bounce, Camay, Christina Aguilera perfumes, Clairol, Cover Girl, Daz, Dolce & Gabbana perfumes, Dreft, Tide, Gain, Escada, Fairy, Fixodent, Flash, Herbal Essences, Old Spice, Hugo Boss perfumes, Lacoste colognes, Luvs, Max Factor, Nice N’ Easy, Nicky Clarke, Secret, Silvikrin, Tampax, Wash & Go and much more.

Behind The Beauty Brand: Who Owns What?

Johnson & Johnson

Established in 1886 by brothers Robert, James and Edward Johnson, Johnson & Johnson is an American corporation specializing in pharmaceutical development and medical devices. Throughout the years it has expanded its market with beauty and household products from brands including Acuvue, Aveeno, Band-Aid, Benadryl, Benecol, Benylin, Clean & Clear, Compeed, Imodium, Splenda, Listerine, Neutrogena, Nicorette, Nizoral, Rembrandt, Sudafed, T/Gel, Topamaz, Tylenol and so many more.

Behind The Beauty Brand: Who Owns What?

RB plc 

Formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser, RB is yet another multinational consumer good corporation that includes personal care and household products from brands including Air Wick, Scholl, Durex, Finish, French’s, Gavisocn, Harpic, Clearasil, Frank’s Red Hot, K-Y, Windolene, Lemsip, Neutra-Air, Neurofen, Quanto, Senokot, Woolite and so much more. 

Behind The Beauty Brand: Who Owns What?

Other Brands

Groupe Artémis/Kering/LMVH - Salma Hayeck's husband François-Henri Pinault is the man behind this corporation which owns Christie's, Château Latour, Le Point, Stade Rennais F.C., and Théâtre Marigny. François has major shares in Kering, previously known as PPR who are responsible for fahion and lifestyle brands such as Puma, Gucci, McQ, Alexander McQueen, Cobra, Balenciaga, Oscar de la Renta, Volcom, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane, Sergio Rossi and much more. Kering are largest shareholder of LVHM (Moët-Hennessy Louis Vuitton) which is the largest luxury goods conglomerate in the world and are behind the make-up brands and department stores as mentioned in my beauty super brand post. 

Richemont - a Swiss group which owns Cartier, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Lancel, Montblanc, Chloé, and Net-A-Porter.

Valentino Fashion Group - owns Valentino, M Missoni, and Proenza Schouler.

The Aeffe Group manufactures and distributes for Alberta Ferretti, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, Moschino, Moschino Cheap and Chic, Pollini and  some Jean Paul Gaultier. 

Inditex - owns Zara, Bershka and Massimo Dutti

H&M - owns H&M, COS, and Cheap Monday.

The Arcadia Group - owns Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, and Wallis.

Diesel owns Victor & Rolf, Maison Martin Margiela and DSquared2.

Phillips-Van Heusen owns Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, Michael Kors,Timberland, Nautica and Sean John.

Hermès - a largely family owned fashion business but other shareholders from luxury brands  such as Giorgio Armani and Versace.

Gap INC - owns Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy.

Limited Brands - owns Victoria’s Secret, LaSenza, and Bath and Body Works.

The Weston Family, - own grocery and department stores including Superstore, Joe Fresh, Extra Foods, Holt Renfrew, Selfridges and Brown Thomas

Luxottica - owners of Ray-Ban, Sunglass Hut, Oakley, Persol and LensCrafters and much more. They also manufacture eye wear for Chanel, DKNY, Armani, Burberry, Vogue and Tiffany to name but a few.

Prada Group - owns Prada, Miu Miu, The Original Car Shoe and Church's Footwear.
Kellogg's - products from Kellogg's are easy to detect as their cereals are often branded with their identifiable red cursive logo. Frosties, Rice Krispies, Coco Pops, Eggo, Pop Tarts, Crunchy Nut, Special K, Fruit Loops, Corn Flakes and All Bran are among some of the Kellogg's family. They also own Pringles. 

JM Smucker - mostly available in the US and Canada, Smuckers own Dunkin' Donuts, Pillsbury, Jif, Crisco and many more. 

Nestlé - a company that has faced many controversies throughout the years. Brands include Pure Life, KitKat, Shredded Wheat, Nescafe, Fruit Pastilles, Carnation, Nesquik, Aero, Herta, Maggi, Purina, Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, Munch Bunch, Nespresso, Zephyrhillis, Ovaltine, Ski, Drumstick, Häagen-Dazs - these are just the tip of the Nestle iceberg. 

Coco-Cola - all the usual beverages inclduing all the variances of Coke available. Also Fanta, Lilt, Sprite, Fresca, Dr Pepper, Mr Pibb, Mello Yello, Powerade, Schweppes, Evian, Monster, Minute Maid plus so much more. 

PepsiCo - brands include Pepsi and its variances, Quaker Oats, Walkers, Doritos, Frito Lay, 7Up, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Sunbites, Copella, Snack-A-Jack's, Naked Juice, Nobby's Nuts, Cheetos, Fritos and more.

Mars - responsible for addicting me to Malteasers. Plus M & Ms, Mars, Snickers, Milky Way, Galaxy, Dove, Celebrations, Bounty, 3 Musketeers. As well as chocolate Mars makes Pedigree, Whiskas, Wrigley's, Big Red, Dolmio, Uncle Ben's, Suzi Wan and many more!

Cadbury - pretty self-explanatory but they do make Dairy Milk, Marvellous Creations, Caramel, Wispa, Boost, Flake, Double Decker and so much more. If I continue this list I will end up salivating like my dog Bailey when I wave slices of salalmi and bacon in front of his nose. 

Largo Foods - as well as making Tayto Ireland's favorite crisp brand, Largo also makes Hunky Dory's, Perri and King.

Disney - apart from the obvious films, channels and theme parks, Disney also either own or have equity interests in The Disney Television Network, Touchstone, ABC Network, ESPN, The Walt Disney Studios, Marvel and Pixar, amongst a vast amount of others plus an additional 30 radio stations.

GoogleInc -  a transnational company which specialises internet services and products. Google boasts search engines such as Google Image Search, Google Scholar, Google Patent Search Shopping, as well as books, financial merchandise, blog spaces, Gmail, Google+ (social networking), Orkut, YouTube, and Picasa. 

Rupert Murdoch News Corp - owns Twentieth Century Fox, HarperCollins, BSkyB. Rupert Murdoch also owns many British newspaper companies including The Sun, the News of the World and The Times. Murdoch also owns FX, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Sports, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild,Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. 

British BroadcastingCorporation (BBC) - owns numerous television channels, radio stations, online websites, with BBC News being the largest broadcaster in the world.  

Comcast - owns NBCUniversal, NBC, Telemundo, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, USA Network, Bravo, CNBC, The Weather Channel, MSNBC, Syfy, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Esquire Network, E!, Cloo, Chiller, Universal HD and Comcast SportsNet. 
Time Warner Inc. -  owns CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, HLN, NBA TV, TBS, TNT, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Bros. Pictures, Castle Rock, DC Comics,and New Line Cinema.
Viacom - owns MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment and Atom Entertainment. 
CBS Corporation - owns CBS Television Network, CBS Sports Network, Showtime, TVGN CBS Radio, Inc, CBS Television Studios and book publisher Simon & Schuster.

Discovery Communications - owns Discovery Channel, American Heroes Channel, Animal Planet, Destination America  and distribution rights to BBC America and BBC World News.

Does it strike you as curious that just a handful of superbrands own absolutely EVERYTHING? How can we have control of our senses if our choices are limited to conglomerate consumerism?