here are numerous examples of Brand Extension Failures. They are:
1. Coke's launch of Black Cherry Vanilla Coke and Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke failure miserable
2. Pepsi's Cafechino looks like a disaster in India as very people have actually gone for it
3. Virgin: The company was able to stretch its considerable brand equities from the entertainment to the travel industry. Virgin Airlines is a success. But does anyone remember Virgin cola? Virgin vodka? Virgin jeans?
4. Ready-to-eat pizza from Amul, India
5. Dulux paints with a unique selling proposition of 7-day fragrance
6. GPI, impressed by the rising working women population and their increasing smoking habits, launched "Ms" cigarettes amidst much fanfare, exclusively for this segment. You know where Ms is today -- nowhere in the market! The company lost out heavily in ad and promotion expenses, not to count the lost (wo)man-hours. GPI did not bother to research the smoking habits of Indian women. Our women actually prefer popular men's brands!
7. Ponds Toothpaste had been a dismal failure.
Learning: The key to successful brand extensions: the determination that the proposed extensions are consistent with core brand values. Brand extension ideas should not emanate from management's point of view, but from the consumer's.