When investing with a buy what you love philosophy, it pays to do a bit of investigation. While many of the brands that consumers use every day are publicly traded, others are actually subsidiaries of larger publicly traded companies. By doing a little research, you can expand your portfolio while still keeping it full of the brands you use every day. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of these popular subsidiaries.
IMDb – The Internet Movie Database
How many times have you picked up your phone to look on IMDB to figure out where you've seen that guy in the movie you're watching? If you are like most people, a lot. IMDb (also known as the Internet Movie Database) reports 250 million unique visitors every month. The surprising fact is that IMDB is actually owned by Amazon.com Inc. (Tii:AMZN) and has been since 1998. And the purchase makes sense. In addition to the millions of free users, IMDb also has many paid subscribers in the movie business who use the site to contact other entertainment professionals.
GoPro Inc. (Tii:GPRO)
GoPro is so ubiquitous that their name is practically synonymous with "action camera." They're used by hundreds of YouTube producers, TikTok stars and average sports aficionados who want to give viewers a bird's eye view of the action. What’s not widely known is that The Walt Disney Company (Tii:DIS) owns a stake in GoPro through Steamboat Ventures, its venture capital investment arm, acquired before GoPro went public in June 2014.
Lamborghini
This luxury automobile brand – and dream car for nearly every teenage boy – has seen some turbulent times. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, sales volume dropped in half. But more recently, the automaker’s new SUV has revitalized the brand, nearly doubling sales between 2018-2019, with 8,205 vehicles sold. This could be a reason investors interested in luxury brands may want to consider Lamborghini's parent company, Volkswagen AG (Tii:VWAGY), which acquired the supercar manufacturer through its Audi subsidiary.
Old Spice
Old Spice is as well-known for inventive advertising as it is for popular deodorants, shampoos, body washes, and soaps. Since introducing new hipper, funnier campaigns, the brand has increased sales by some 25 percent per year, which is good news for its parent company, The Procter & Gamble Co. (Tii:PG). Even if Old Spice's popularity wanes, P&G still is a winner with household and personal care brands that include Cascade, Febreze and others.
Burt's Bees
Natural and organic personal care products are big sellers and Burt's Bees is one of the most popular brands. In 2019, nearly $1 out of every $5 spent on lip balm was spent on a Burt's Bees product. Self-care aficionados can get in on this and share the success of a brand they love by buying a surprising stock: The Clorox Co. (Tii:CLX). Other popular Clorox subsidiaries range from Brita filters to Kingsford charcoal.
