Why Coles went from 4 brands to 1 and what you can learn from this

Recently, Coles announced they’re consolidating all of their liquor stores under one brand — Liquorland.
They’re taking Liquorland, Liquorland Cellars, and Liquorland Warehouse and making them all just… Liquorland.

Across 984 stores.

Now, this might sound boring, but as a brand strategist, this move gets me excited because it’s exactly what most small businesses need to do but won’t.

What Coles Actually Did

They moved from what I call a “house of brands” strategy to a “branded house” strategy.
Here’s the difference:

• House of brands: Multiple separate brands trying to do their own thing
• Branded house: One main brand with different versions under it

Coles realised having three different liquor brands was confusing customers and making their marketing way harder than it needed to be.

Why This Is Brilliant (And Why SMEs Should Pay Attention)

The results from their trial stores? Increased brand awareness and more people shopping there.
Why? Because customers finally knew what the hell they were looking at.

Here’s what I see happening:

• Marketing gets easier: Instead of trying to promote three different brands, they promote one. Every dollar works harder.
  
• Customers get less confused: You know when you’re looking for something and there are too many similar options? That’s what Coles fixed.
  
• Operations get simpler: Same products, same pricing, same everything across all stores. Much easier to manage.

The SME Reality: Why You’re Probably Doing This Wrong

I work with small and medium businesses every week, and here’s what I see constantly:
Business owners trying to run multiple brands when they can barely manage one properly.

You’ll have a main business, then start a “premium” version, then maybe a “budget” version, thinking you’re being smart by covering all bases.
But here’s what actually happens:

• Your marketing budget gets split three ways and none of your brands get enough attention
  
• Customers don’t understand the difference between your brands
  
• You’re managing multiple websites, social media accounts, and marketing campaigns
  
• None of your brands build real recognition because you’re spreading yourself too thin
  

What I tell my clients instead

Focus on one brand. Make it really good. Make it really clear what you stand for.

What I see all the time is people with a personal Instagram page, a business page, a podcast page, maybe another page for some side project — plus different websites for each one.
They’re trying to market all of them and wondering why none of them are growing.

What I do is find the common thread through all of them and bring them under one powerful brand.
Instead of having four weak brands fighting for attention, you have one strong brand that people actually remember and follow.

I actually had to do this myself.

I was running my brand strategy business but also had a networking dinner series called Check Load Dinners.

 It was something I loved doing: bringing people together but I realized it was dividing my attention away from my main offering.

I was trying to market two different things on social media, it was extra work to build, and honestly, it wasn’t making money.

It was just a nice-to-have.

So I closed it down. Because we only have limited time and energy, and our audience only has limited attention.

Every post about dinners was a post not building my brand strategy reputation.

The Questions I Ask Every Business Owner

When someone comes to me wanting to launch another brand, I ask:

1. Can you actually afford to market multiple brands properly?
   
2. Are your customers really asking for this, or do you just think it’s a good idea?
   
3. Is your main brand already dominating its space?
   
4. Would it be easier to just add this as a service under your existing brand?
   
   Most of the time, the honest answers tell the real story.

The Bottom Line

Coles didn’t make this move because they were bored.
They made it because multiple brands were making their life harder, not easier.

If you’re running multiple brands, pages, or projects right now, you’re probably making the same mistake I was with my dinner series.
You’re spreading yourself too thin and diluting what could be a really powerful brand.

The solution isn’t to kill everything and start over.
It’s about finding that common thread and creating one cohesive brand strategy where everything you do supports everything else.

This is exactly the work we’ll be doing together at my in-person Brand Retreats.

We’ll strengthen your brand strategically so that every effort you make goes into attracting and converting your ideal clients instead of confusing them with scattered messaging across multiple brands.

When everything works together under one powerful brand strategy, you don’t just get more efficient you become dominant in your space.

So, reach out now to book your spot at the next immersion and start building the brand that actually works for you.

Speak soon