In marketing there is a simple code for making a lot of money from your brand, while strengthening relationships with consumers.

It's so simple, it's like learning your ABCs. But in practice, implementing that code can be more complex than deciphering Enigma.

The news that Google is changing its listed name from Google to Alphabet is a great example of understanding how modern brands think and reveal their code to marketing success.

So why really is the search engine giant changing its brand? There's many reasons, but let's just focus on some of the bigger ones.

Firstly, by changing to Alphabet as the listed name there is now a parent brand that can allow the development of Google's existing brands as well as the creation of new ones, by tapping into how each one of those brands resonates with consumers.

That resonance equals brand equity - and the more equity you have, the more you are worth.

Put another way, the way we use each app or digital offer is unique.This uniqueness creates an experience that we value. Some experiences more than others, and others less so. If it's a good experience, we are willing to give our time, money, and most importantly for marketers, information, to these apps because they occupy such an important place in our lives.

So from a brand's perspective, if you own many of these experiences, then you own a lot of information not just about how someone lives, but also why people live how they live, what experiences they seek above others, and when they seek them. Now that is power.

This is why the likes of supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths are expanding so rapidly into other business areas such as insurance, phones, and credit cards. Big conglomerates such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Coke have been practising this for decades. But in the digital world, Alphabet is really the first to do this.

Then there's the money

Owning a portfolio of brands means you can grow some brands - and that very cheaply, just look at Instagram and Facebook - and you can isolate damage from a brand that is struggling, making up for it with growth in others. Just look at how well sporting codes such as the NRL and AFL do that. And how BP and Malaysia Airlines are both wishing they had other brands to help them through their crises.

But brands have lifecycles because consumers are ever changing and wanting new experiences. So eventually it will be time to sell or list a brand before it starts to lose value,  and free up money to grow new brands. When Alphabet sells one of its brands, or floats it on the sharemarket, it could provide it with the capital needed to embark on its next round of growth.

For example Alphabet could free more resources to help YouTube fight off challengers from the likes of Vimeo, Facebook and the growing live social casting sites such as Twitter's Periscope. YouTube can use its brand and - to sound like a Trekkie - go boldly into new spaces where it hasn't been before.

But the company also has to grow more in social media. Creating new brands that don't harm the equity of Google (instead of leveraging off it like the Google+ flop) are very much needed. Picasa, an image-sharing site Google basically killed allowing Flickr free reign and Yahoo a second chance at life, may even be resurrected.

In the fast-growing markets of China and India, Google could even develop country-specific brands to take on the growing threat from Weibo and WeChat.

But there's a catch

There is a risk in all this that needs to be considered. Google is known as the best search engine on earth. It's entered into our language and our lives to such an extent that if it were to disappear, there would be 40 per cent less online traffic in the world.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being the best in the world and staying put.

But stretching its brand resonance with consumers too far could hurt all its brands, not just one. Sony's move into music for example hasn't quite worked out, prompting the Japanese electronics conglomerate to focus on a narrower band of products. Similarly, US engineering behemoth GE is starting to pull back and focus on businesses where its traditional strengths lie.

That said, Alphabet is here now - and here to stay. Its focus will be on creating online and offline experiences that we choose for all aspects of our lives instead of going from one app to another as we do right now.

The question that remains is: Can the company over the next 10 years get a brand for every letter in the alphabet?

Considering how fast we are seeking new experiences that engage and emotionally connect with us, and Google's own mission to focus on the user, my answer is simple: Yes.

Andrew Hughes is a lecturer in marketing in the Australia National University's Research School of Management.