How the principles of Mental Availability help you avoid potential portfolio conflict.
The news that Allied Bakery, owners of Kingsmill, have agreed to purchase Hovis presents both an opportunity and a challenge. On one hand, two of the UK’s best-known bread brands will now sit under the same roof, potentially strengthening the group’s presence in a mature but vital category. On the other, the two brands already occupy much of the same mental space for shoppers, thought of for the same everyday bread occasions.
The question for brand leaders is this: how do you manage two brands that consumers already see in largely the same way? The answer lies not in chasing short-term shifts in market share, but in applying a clear portfolio strategy with Mental Availability principles at its heart.
In a highly competitive UK market, where own-label has such a high market share, building memory structures that ensure each brand is easy to think of in a wide range of buying situations is so important.
The importance of Category Entry Points (CEPs)
CEPs are the situations, needs, and contexts that trigger buyers to recall brands in different buying situations, e.g. “I need bread for the kids’ lunchbox”, “I fancy a toasted sandwich”, “I want something wholesome for Sunday breakfast.”
A brand that builds strong associations with many CEPs will be thought of more often, across more occasions, and therefore bought more often.
In portfolio management, this means the task is not just to grow a single brand’s presence, but to map, allocate, and strengthen CEPs across the portfolio. With Kingsmill and Hovis overlapping on many of the same CEPs, the challenge is to clarify which CEPs each brand should focus on, which to step back from, and where new white spaces can be credibly created. This clarity will prevent duplication, minimise cannibalisation, and expand the overall Mental Availability of the Allied Bakery portfolio.
The Portfolio Brand Strategy Questions That Matter
For Allied Bakery, the acquisition raises five critical questions:
- First, which CEPs does each brand truly come to mind for? Without clarity here, the portfolio risks becoming a blunt instrument, with both brands chasing the same mental territory.
- Second, how can areas of separation be built to avoid total overlap?
The SmilingCFO Category Entry Point database shows that Kingsmill has traction with lunchbox occasions and toasties, but Hovis too must identify CEPs where it can credibly lead. For example, remember the clever pack design in the early 2000s linked to different meals?
- Third, can either brand credibly expand into new CEPs where no player currently has a mental advantage? These “white spaces” exist even in mature categories. They may be found in emerging consumer needs, e.g. health-conscious choices like seeded or lower-carb breads, or in generational or geographical nuances. A recent Mental Availability assessment we carried out for a client in the chocolate category across six countries, revealed under-exploited opportunities among Gen Z and in Eastern markets. The same depth of analysis may uncover similar potential for bread.
- Fourth, what must the portfolio stop doing? One of the hardest calls in brand management is to pull back. But avoiding duplication is critical. If both brands fight for the same CEPs, budgets are wasted reinforcing identical memory structures. Sometimes the smartest move is for one brand to step aside, ceding the space to its sibling while redeploying energy into new ground.
- And finally, what does a strategy look like for increasing the network size of both brands? Growth is not only about owning a handful of occasions. The real value lies in linking a brand to as many CEPs as possible. A brand that is mentally associated with ten CEPs will be thought of more often, and bought more often, than one associated with only three, even if it doesn’t dominate in any single one. For example, Greggs bakery, scored 10.8 for Network Size in our latest dip of the ‘savoury pastry’ category, little wonder then it is the market leader in the UK. The compounding effect of wider memory networks translates into volume growth if the right Physical Availability strategies are in place.
Brand Positioning in the Context of the Portfolio Brand Strategy
Brand Positioning is often seen as an exercise in abstract differentiation, but Jenni Romaniuk reframes it as an “empirical phenomenon”. As she notes, “Positioning is based on brand size and the degree to which the attribute is prototypical of the category. She explains that The Enhrenberg Bass Institute found that only 15% of ‘top three brands’ were dominant on any attribute, (i.e. scored >+20 deviation).
In other words, brands don’t always get to “choose” their positioning; much of it reflects the structure of the category. What they can do is identify where deviations exist, where users and non-users agree that a brand fits unusually well with a given CEP, and double down to exploit those associations.
For Allied Bakery, the task is therefore twofold:
i) Sharpen the distinctiveness of Kingsmill and Hovis by clarifying which CEPs each should own
ii) Ensure that the portfolio collectively spans as many occasions as possible.
Distinctiveness and coverage must work in tandem.
None of this can be achieved through a single campaign. Mental Availability is built through consistency, repetition, and reinforcement. Distinctive brand assets; logos, colour palettes, characters, pack formats, must be used consistently, year in and year out, to refresh and strengthen memory. Creative ideas must reach mass audiences, not just narrow targets, so that CEP associations are reinforced broadly across the buying population.
As Byron Sharp emphasises, reach is not a nice-to-have; it is the lifeblood of memory building.
The Path Ahead
The path forward is clear: diagnose where each brand comes to mind, sharpen the edges of separation, expand into credible white spaces, and build network size relentlessly.
If the Kingsmill and Hovis teams can achieve this, the acquisition will create a portfolio powerhouse, one that leverages Mental Availability to drive long-term growth in a category often seen as commoditised.
Remember; Market Share is the outcome. Memory Building is the input.
Further Reading
Why Mental Availability Deserves More of Your Attention.
https://smilingcfo.co.uk/give-mental-availability-your-attention/
Better Brand Health – Jenni Romaniuk
https://marketingscience.info/better-brand-health
