Who Brands Blog

Finding genuinely independent brands requires more than reading labels. Here is a practical, sourced guide to identifying and supporting brands that are not owned by large multinationals.

Your values-driven purchase may be funding a company whose practices conflict with those values. Here is what ethical consumers need to know about who really owns the brands they buy.

When a brand is acquired, does the product get better, worse, or stay the same? The evidence from hundreds of acquisitions shows it depends heavily on the acquirer's strategy and the category.

Research shows most consumers are unaware of brand ownership. But when they find out, it changes behaviour in measurable ways. Here is what the evidence says about ownership and purchasing decisions.

Innocent Drinks was acquired by Coca-Cola. Cadbury is now Mondelez. Vegemite moved from Kraft to Bega Cheese. Local and regional brands are routinely acquired by global corporations while their local identity is preserved.

Store brands now represent over 20% of US grocery sales. Many are made in the same factories as the name brands they sit next to. Here is what the evidence says about quality, ingredients, and who makes what.

Burt's Bees is owned by Clorox. Honest Tea was owned by Coca-Cola. Annie's is owned by General Mills. Most organic and natural brands are now subsidiaries of major corporations. Here is what that actually means.

Circuit City, Blockbuster, Borders, Pan Am, and TWA were all acquired or absorbed before disappearing entirely. Here are 25 major brands that did not survive the acquisition process.

Hulu is owned by three media companies. Sony Ericsson was a joint venture before Sony bought the rest. Joint ventures are one of the most misunderstood ownership structures in corporate branding.

Antitrust regulators have blocked billion-dollar deals, forced brand divestitures, and restructured entire industries. Here is how competition law shapes which brands end up in whose hands.

Instagram kept its name. Motorola lost its name under Google but regained it under Lenovo. The decision to retain or retire a brand name after acquisition is one of the most consequential in corporate strategy.

When Microsoft paid $8.5 billion for LinkedIn and Meta paid $1 billion for Instagram, they were buying brand equity. Here is what brand equity actually means and why corporations pay extraordinary sums to acquire it.