This is the BBC.

In this edition of the bottom line, we'll be talking about companies that own multiple brands.

Do we really need so many?

Hello and welcome to the programme.

For most consumer-facing companies, brands are what business is about.

They're every bit as important

as bricks are to construction. And it's maybe because these companies love brands so much

that we have so many. In Spain, it's free-go in the UK, it's walls, but both ice creams

come from the same company, Unilever. Innocent smoothie drinks are from Coca-Cola. Nestle brings Urolo, Kit Kat and the Aero Bar, but also San Pellegrino, sparkling water and Vitell.

So what is going on here? One company, many, many brands. Is it to help us navigate or to bamboozle? Why not just use the company name as the overarching brand?

Well, that's our topic today. We'll learn a lot about brands as we explore it.

And joining me are three guests who can explain what's involved in running multiple brands.

First up is Robert Jones, brand consultant at Wolf Owens and a visiting professor at the University of East Anglia.

Robert, what exactly does a brand consultant do?

We, in simple terms, help our clients to work out what they want to stand for in the minds of consumers, but also employees,

and then kind of make all of that happen partly through the bit that we're famous for.

The visible bit is logos, but that's the tip of the iceberg, a whole load of change that happens in order to create the right bunch of ideas in people's minds out in the world.

Okay, so what are some of the brands that you've worked on or been involved with?

People like Unilever, the good example of a company that owns lots of brands.

Virgin, similar, but in different ways.

But also cultural organisations like Tate and National Trust and charities like Oxfam.

And the London 2012 Olympics was us.

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