Brand extension84

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BRAND EXTENSION

A brand with a good reputation is a useful thing. With a name that people trust and recognise you have a strong advantage over one that is starting from scratch.

Taking your company into a related area with new products or services used to be called brand stretching, but that sounded as if companies were trying too hard. So brand stretching rebranded itself. The new name is brand extension.

The idea There are small steps a brand can take. Starbucks sell their instant coffee alongside their beans, or innocent drinks moving into selling single fruit juices. (Although innocent did rebrand their fruit waters, as Juicy Water.). Fashion brands known for their clothes often extend into developing accessories, and many of them license their brands to fragrance companies and venture into the potentially more profi table perfume industry.

In practice • Look for a product or service that complements what you already do, so your customers will think that it’s a natural extension of your brand, rather than raising their eyebrows in surprise. • Let your existing customers know about your new venture. • Make sure that the standards of your extended brand match those of your original, especially if it is being manufactured by a different organisation.