Posted on : 2024-04-28 20:13:08
Article : Good Morning Monday Management solution for the TASK 291- On the flip side of brand extension for more revenue, a company can also exploit its brand and in turn ruin it.
Historically, the most successful brand extensions are the ones that closely tie to the company’s core brand or flagship product, like Gerber’s baby clothes and Dole’s frozen fruit bars. By entering tangential markets that can preserve their brand’s unique associations and perceived quality, companies can launch new products that consumers intuitively understand the benefits of, even though they’ve never seen them on a shelf.
On the flip side, a company can also exploit its brand and in turn ruin it. Developing a new product in a market that isn’t closely tied to your flagship product or core brand like what Zippo did with its women’s perfume, could cause some problems. It could result in undesirable associations to your brand and weaken its existing associations and hurt your established products’ perceived quality. -Not every brand extension can be a hit. Here are a few examples of brands that have made brand extension mistakes — and the lessons marketers can learn from them.
1.Cadbury's Instant Mashed Potatoes-Cadbury is known for making high-end chocolate and candy. When it started producing low-end food products like instant mashed potatoes, it’s not surprising to learn that its association with the finest chocolates weakened.
Smash, its instant mashed potato brand, actually reached mainstream success, but it was at the expense of lowering its flagship product’s perceived quality. Cadbury eventually sold Smash in 1986, over 20 years after introducing its instant mashed potatoes to the world.
What went wrong: -Cadbury's food products were not up to the same high-quality standards as its candy and lost customer trust in the brand.
2.Levi’s Tailored Classics- When Levi’s introduced Tailored Classics in the early 1980s, it already owned a large share of its target market, so it wanted to enter some new markets to sustain its high growth rate.
One of these markets was men’s suits, but since its brand was heavily associated with a casual, rugged, and outdoorsy lifestyle, Levi’s new product line conflicted with its core identity and failed to catch on.
What went wrong: Consumers trusted Levis to produce durable clothing that could endure the wrath of mother nature, but, for that very reason, they didn't trust them to deliver high-end tailored suits.
3. Samsonite's Outerwear- While Samsonite’s outwear is more fashionable than Levi’s Tailored Classics, it still suffers from the same problem as Levi’s failed product line — the brand extension doesn’t align with Samsonite’s core identity.
Samsonite is known for making high-end luggage, suitcases, and business bags. So unless it thinks its flagship product’s elegant traits can transfer to a completely unrelated product line, its venture into the clothing industry could diminish its brand equity. This is most likely the reason Samsonite doesn’t list outerwear on its website anymore.
What went wrong: - Samsonite was unable to transfer its reputation for creating sleek luggage to clothing.
End point- While a brand extension has its benefits, we also need to know that extending our brand into unchartered waters would also come with challenges.
So, before you implement any extension strategy for your business, ensure it's in line with what your ideal consumer wants. Does it make any logical sense to start marketing a new product to my customers? What benefit would a consumer derive from this new brand or product? Have I done enough research to know how a brand extension would affect my original brand? Once you answer those questions, then you can start thinking about effective ways to grow your brand.
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