As CMO of a manufacturer or retailer, what would you do with this situation to strengthen your brand equity?

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Currently, organizations gradually experience demand for quality goods that are more flexible to consumer needs, satisfactorily priced, and delivered at shorter lead times. As such, balancing consumer quality demands, product portfolio, and company profitability has been an uphill task (Haug et al., 534). While a broad portfolio increases the possibility of a customer finding products that match their tastes, preferences, and budget, it also increases the organization’s operational, marketing, and indirect costs. However, an extensive product portfolio, if not well managed, reduces an organization's competitiveness and consumer satisfaction (Haug et al., 534).
To improve customer satisfaction and competitiveness, companies are adopting strategies that eliminate internal product portfolios that do not create customer value. For example, the Independent Grocers Alliance has reduced the variety of toilet paper its sells from forty to four brands. Variety reduction is mainly a complex initiative as most organizations have focused on product solutions rather than product variants (Haug et al., 534). In reality, to strike a balance between product variety and cohesion can be challenging (Da Cunha, 70). For example, if the product variation is extensive, organizations risk selling unprofitable variants, on the flip side, too small portfolios may not meet the customer needs (Wan and Nadia, 125). As such, companies should reduce the variety of goods while being able to predict the impacts on future consumer demands and company brand equity.
Brand equity is a vital element for a business identity. A strong brand increases a company's competitive advantage, revenues, customer loyalty, expansion opportunities, and negotiating power (Liao, 15). For example, by leveraging a brand's value, an organization can easily introduce new products in the market that customers may be willing to try with ease. Thus said, a broader product portfolio increases a company's brand equity. Usually, customers are loyal to brands that offer a variety of quality goods and services (Liao, 10). As such, by reducing the range of products, organizations risk losing loyal customers and brand competitiveness. Thus, marketing has a significant role to play in strengthening an organization brand equity.
As a chief marketing officer, I would be in the front line to ensure the organization only eliminates the products that customers perceive to be of low quality. According to Liao (12), marketers, understand consumer needs and wants than any other player in an organization. In reality, marketers are the link be...