Extensions and their relevance in consumer markets
If a brand has a value, then it should be possible to transfer those values to additional products, so
enabling a company to broaden its range. A strong brand can make it easier to launch new products.
The original brand will have associations which will be helpful to the new product. In industrial
marketing, the company is nearlyalways the brand, acting as an umbrella under which all the products
sit. An extra product would be under this umbrella along with the existing range. This is a brand
extension.
Brand extensions are frequently used in consumer marketing. Most brand extensions are logical
additions to an existing line such as Coca-Cola introducing Diet Coke or Caffeine-free Coke. The
principle is the same,though a little more difficult, when the move is into a more distant category of
product such as Mars' move into ice cream bars and chocolate drinks and Palmolive from toilet soap to
shaving foam. It is tempting to push this brand extension but it can sometimes be too far. Next tried
extending its retail brand into Next furniture, Next hairdressing, Next cafés but with little success.
Virgin are still persevering with colas, insurance, and cars and the jury is out as to how successful
these will be in the long run.Where there is a close association between an existing brand and the new
product, brand extension is more likely to work. Researchers seek out these associations in group
discussions and depth interviews. Using these associations it is possible to show which areas of
opportunity, which new products, are closest to the core values of the brand and which are furthest
away. Those which are closest will gain most leverage from the existing brand.
If a brand has a value, then it should be possible to transfer those values to additional products, so
enabling a company to broaden its range. A strong brand can make it easier to launch new products.
The original brand will have associations which will be helpful to the new product. In industrial
marketing, the company is nearlyalways the brand, acting as an umbrella under which all the products
sit. An extra product would be under this umbrella along with the existing range. This is a brand
extension.
Brand extensions are frequently used in consumer marketing. Most brand extensions are logical
additions to an existing line such as Coca-Cola introducing Diet Coke or Caffeine-free Coke. The
principle is the same,though a little more difficult, when the move is into a more distant category of
product such as Mars' move into ice cream bars and chocolate drinks and Palmolive from toilet soap to
shaving foam. It is tempting to push this brand extension but it can sometimes be too far. Next tried
extending its retail brand into Next furniture, Next hairdressing, Next cafés but with little success.
Virgin are still persevering with colas, insurance, and cars and the jury is out as to how successful
these will be in the long run.Where there is a close association between an existing brand and the new
product, brand extension is more likely to work. Researchers seek out these associations in group
discussions and depth interviews. Using these associations it is possible to show which areas of
opportunity, which new products, are closest to the core values of the brand and which are furthest
away. Those which are closest will gain most leverage from the existing brand.