The world has witnessed no less than twenty fierce pandemics from prehistoric to current times. These included the black death of the 1300s that spread from Asia to Europe, originating from a bacteria that spread through fleas and rats; the Philadelphia yellow fever in the 1700s, transmitted by mosquitoes; the flu pandemic in the 1890s that killed more than a million people worldwide; the Spanish flu in the 1920s that affected an estimated 500 million people globally and left one fifth dead. Recent pandemics include the Asian flu that originated in China, AIDs, swine flu, ebola, zika virus, to name a few. Worldwide, countries presently are up against the ravages of Covid 19, a respiratory virus that spreads primarily through droplets caused by an infected person coughing or sneezing, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose. Up when the first human cases of Covid 19 were first reported in a wholesale food market in Wuhan City, China in December 2019, biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms are yet to announce the availability of a commercially viable vaccine. To date, worldwide, there have been over a million deaths due to covid 19 and more than 37 million people have been infected.
History shows that despite pandemics, responsive family businesses continue to thrive
Health pandemics do not just bring widespread sickness, but can cause desolation and financial turmoil that is why family businesses that remain responsive, mindfully upbeat and empathetic to consumers during a pandemic continue to thrive and emerge as winners post pandemic.
Family owned businesses range from single proprietorships to corporations that can be private, exclusively owned by family members or it can be publicly traded, with family members continuing to own the majority bloc and restricted stocks in the hands of non-family investors.
The Family Capital 750, now on its second year, shows the robust contribution of family owned businesses in the world economy, reportedly generating US$9.1 Trillion in revenues in 2018, fueling the employment of more than 30 million staff worldwide and driving global economic sustainability and growth. Evidently, many of these companies have been existing since the 1300s, 1600s, 1800s and so forth, clearly alongside the world’s worst pandemics. Following are some twenty of the companies listed in the The Family Capital 750, remaining to be companies with familiar brands to this day.
| Rank | Company name | Family Owner/ Founder | Date Founded | Public/ Private | Country of origin | Family Shareholding (%) | Company Brands | Category |
| 2 | Volkswagen AG | Porsche and Piech | 1937 | Public | Germany | 52.2 | Volkswagen Audi Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Porsche, Lamborgini, et al. | Automotive |
| 9 | Tata Sons Private Ltd. | Tata | 1868 | Private | India | 77.4 | Tata | Diversified industries in automotive motors, steel, power, etc. |
| 11 | ALDI Group | Albrecht | 1913 | Private | Germany | 100 | ALDI Traders Joe | Retail and consumer market (grocery chain store) |
| 16 | Dell Technologies Inc. | Dell | 1984 | Public | United States of America | 72 | Dell, Secureworks, Virtustream,et al. | Technology |
| 22 | Roche Holding AG | Hoffman and Oeri | 1896 | Public | Switzerland | 50.1 | Accu-chek, xenical, Bactrim, et al. | Pharmaceuticals and life sciences |
| 27 | LVMH Moet Hennessy | Arnault | 1923 | Public | France | 40.8 | Louis Vuitton, Berluti, Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, Moynat, Dom Perignon, Celine, Givenchy, Rimowa, Fendi, Bulgari, et al. | Retail and consumer markets |
| 40 | Midea Group Co. Ltd | Xiangjian | 1968 | Public | China | 31.9 | Midea | Retail and consumer markets (home appliance) |
| 41 | Mars Incorporated | Mars | 1891 | Private | United States | 100 | Mars, Milky way, Life savers, M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, Juicy Fruit, Pedigree, Bounty, Whiskas, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (Confectionary, Food processing, animal care and life sciences) |
| 44 | NIKE inc. | Knight | 1964 | Public | United States of America | 30 | Nike | Retail and consumer markets |
| 53 | L’Oreal S.A. | Bettencourt | 1909 | Public | France | 33.1 | L’Oreal, Lancome, Maybelline, Garnier, NYX Cosmetics, et al. | Retail and consumer markets |
| 84 | Virgin Group | Branson | 1970 | Private | United Kingdom | 100 | Virgin | Diversified industries (airline, beverage, etc.) |
| 94 | CH Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG | Boehringer | 1885 | Private | Germany | 100 | Bisolvon, Buscopan, Dulcolax, Pharmaton, Micardis, Trajenta, et al. | Pharmaceuticals and life sciences |
| 128 | Baidu Inc. | Li | 2000 | Public | China | 55.1 | Baidu | Media |
| 134 | MAHLE Gmbh | Mahle | 1920 | Private | Germany | 100 | Mahle | Automotive parts |
| 155 | Ferrero S.p.A | Ferrero | 1946 | Private | Italy | 100 | Ferrero Rocher, Kinder chocolate, nutella, royal dansk, famous amos, tic tac, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (chocolate and confectionary) |
| 193 | S.C.Johnson&Son Inc. | Johnson | 1886 | Private | United States | 100 | Baygon, Glade, Off!, Pledge, Toilet duck, Ziplock, Kiwi, Raid, et al. | Consumer goods |
| 197 | Luxottica Group | Del Vecchio | 1961 | Private | Italy | 62.4 | Ray-Ban, Oakely, LensCraftersSunglass Hut retail chain, Sears Optical, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (eyewear manufacturing, whole and retailing) |
| 230 | SM Investments Corporation | Sy | 1958 | Public | Philippines | 43.7 | SM Store, BDO Unibank, SM Prime, et al. | Diversified industries |
| 310 | Bacardi Ltd. | Bacardi | 1862 | Private | Bermuda | 100 | Bacardi rum, Bacardi-martini, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (alcohol, wines and spirits beverage) |
| 326 | Red Bull Gmbh | Mateschitz and Yoovidhya | 1984 | Private | Austria | 100 | Red Bull | Retail and consumer market (energy drink) |
| 649 | Perfetti Van Melle Group B.V. | Van Melle | 1900 | Private | Netherlands | 100 | Mentos, chupa chups, fruit tella, et al. | Retail and consumer market |
| 732 | ABCMart | Miki | 1985 | Public | Japan | 37.4 | ABC Mart | Footwear, apparel |
Key to Brand Survival
Acceptance and Reality Check. Regardless of company size, businesses that survived that worst pandemics are able to immediately grasp their situation. Many reasonably took a hardline approach to cut deadweight and fat.
Reality check comes with the assessment that in a pandemic, annual sales growth may not happen for many. Instead, survival and stability is aimed at and above water sales targets may be reprised two to three years back. Despite reprisal, above water businesses re-invest savings obtained from cutting off fat to rebuilding their brands particularly in the minds of consumers saddled with the distraction of a pandemic.
Avoid brand decay and keep the brand story alive. Mars, a confectionary brand founded in 1891 and turning 130 years old, built its brand identity on the singular campaign, ‘a Mars a day helps you work, rest and play’ for several decades. In 1997, the chocolate bar’s positioning was changed as part of a rethink strategy drawn by smooth talking fresh blood thinkers. Not among the replacement brand story and selling lines matched the success of the original campaign and slogan. Ten years after, Mars resurrected its iconic story, ‘Work, rest and play’ with a fresher execution.
EO-Executive Optical, a 52-year old brand founded in 1968, rebranded a decade ago under seasoned brand management guidance, is now the leading eye care specialist. It has never failed to inject witty humor in presenting real time poor eyesight situations that affect daily living and relationships thus, underscoring the need for expert eye care. Its proprietary selling line, ‘love your eyes’ is a constant reminder on the importance of having experts handle or manage one’s eye health regardless of clear or poor eyesight as good vision impacts daily living.
Faithful delivery of the brand vision and brand story. The brand positioning and its story is the equivalent of sustainable brand vision. Brands are not only products and services but may be companies. A company can sell commodity products or services but the firm behind these commodity products and services may actually be the brand whose identity, story to tell, trademark and logo are familiar, memorable and trusted images by loyal, repeat consumers. S.C.Johnson, Virgin, Baidu, et al. are just some examples of these company brands.
The execution follows the brand vision. A clear-cut brand vision determines the direction of the product or service, its target consumers, where it is likely to be distributed, the future depth and width of the product portfolio, the type of media engagement it requires as well as whether to engage a celebrity spokesperson or not. The amount of money spent on media or use of a celebrity spokesperson can best be optimized only with the depth of knowledge that a targeted consumer can acquire about the brand. Hence, branding is both a science and art.
Strong brands have visionary owners who understand the legacy of branding. There are entrepreneurs and visionary business owners. The latter understand that branding is a legacy that can be handed on from one generation to the next. Many of The Family Capital 750 are into the third or fourth generation, some into the seventh generation. During their time, the first generation founders have started branding while the succeeding generations followed suit and energized branding efforts but largely keep the brand positioning, story and soul intact.
The writer is Chief Brand Strategist of MKS Marketing Consulting and is an alumna of Oxford University’s SAID Graduate School of Business Strategic Leadership and Strategic Marketing Executive Education Program and Stanford Graduate School of Business Strategic Marketing Executive Education. De Asis is also an alumna of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business and a PhD graduate of the De La Salle Graduate School, Taft Campus. Reach the author who is also a member of the Global Strategic Consulting Network at karenvdeasis@gmail.com
Note: add the five consumer markets
| Rank | Company name | Family Owner/ Founder | Date Founded | Public/ Private | Country of origin | Family Shareholding (%) | Company Brands | Category |
| 2 | Volkswagen AG | Porsche and Piech | 1937 | Public | Germany | 52.2 | Volkswagen Audi Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Porsche, Lamborgini, et al. | Automotive |
| 9 | Tata Sons Private Ltd. | Tata | 1868 | Private | India | 77.4 | Tata | Diversified industries in automotive motors, steel, power, etc. |
| 11 | ALDI Group | Albrecht | 1913 | Private | Germany | 100.0 | ALDI Traders Joe | Retail and consumer market (grocery chain store) |
| 16 | Dell Technologies Inc. | Dell | 1984 | Public | United States of America | 72.0 | Dell, Secureworks, Virtustream,et al. | Technology |
| 22 | Roche Holding AG | Hoffman and Oeri | 1896 | Public | Switzerland | 50.1 | Accu-chek, xenical, Bactrim, et al. | Pharmaceuticals and life sciences |
| 27 | LVMH Moet Hennessy | Arnault | 1923 | Public | France | 40.8 | Louis Vuitton, Berluti, Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, Moynat, Dom Perignon, Celine, Givenchy, Rimowa, Fendi, Bulgari, et al. | Retail and consumer markets |
| 40 | Midea Group Co. Ltd | Xiangjian | 1968 | Public | China | 31.9 | Midea | Retail and consumer markets (home appliance) |
| 41 | Mars Incorporated | Mars | 1891 | Private | United States | 100.0 | Mars, Milky way, Life savers, M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, Juicy Fruit, Pedigree, Bounty, Whiskas, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (Confectionary, Food processing, animal care and life sciences) |
| 44 | NIKE inc. | Knight | 1964 | Public | United States of America | 30.0 | Nike | Retail and consumer markets |
| 53 | L’Oreal S.A. | Bettencourt | 1909 | Public | France | 33.1 | L’Oreal, Lancome, Maybelline, Garnier, NYX Cosmetics, et al. | Retail and consumer markets |
| 84 | Virgin Group | Branson | 1970 | Private | United Kingdom | 100.0 | Virgin | Diversified industries (airline, beverage, etc.) |
| 94 | CH Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG | Boehringer | 1885 | Private | Germany | 100.0 | Bisolvon, Buscopan, Dulcolax, Pharmaton, Micardis, Trajenta, et al. | Pharmaceuticals and life sciences |
| 128 | Baidu Inc. | Li | 2000 | Public | China | 55.1 | Baidu | Media |
| 134 | MAHLE Gmbh | Mahle | 1920 | Private | Germany | 100.0 | Mahle | Automotive parts |
| 155 | Ferrero S.p.A | Ferrero | 1946 | Private | Italy | 100.0 | Ferrero Rocher, Kinder chocolate, nutella, royal dansk, famous amos, tic tac, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (chocolate and confectionary) |
| 193 | S.C.Johnson&Son Inc. | Johnson | 1886 | Private | United States | 100.0 | Baygon, Glade, Off!, Pledge, Toilet duck, Ziplock, Kiwi, Raid, et al. | Consumer goods |
| 197 | Luxottica Group | Del Vecchio | 1961 | Private | Italy | 62.4 | Ray-Ban, Oakely, LensCraftersSunglass Hut retail chain, Sears Optical, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (eyewear manufacturing, whole and retailing) |
| 230 | SM Investments Corporation | Sy | 1958 | Public | Philippines | 43.7 | SM Store, BDO Unibank, SM Prime, et al. | Diversified industries |
| 310 | Bacardi Ltd. | Bacardi | 1862 | Private | Bermuda | 100.0 | Bacardi rum, Bacardi-martini, et al. | Retail and consumer markets (alcohol, wines and spirits beverage) |
| 326 | Red Bull Gmbh | Mateschitz and Yoovidhya | 1984 | Private | Austria | 100.0 | Red Bull | Retail and consumer market (energy drink) |
| 649 | Perfetti Van Melle Group B.V. | Van Melle | 1900 | Private | Netherlands | 100.0 | Mentos, chupa chups, fruit tella, et al. | Retail and consumer market |
| 732 | ABCMart | Miki | 1985 | Public | Japan | 37.4 | ABC Mart | Footwear, apparel |