The Internet interaction
Of course, the Internet has provided a whole new medium for interaction,
with many consumer brands operating Web sites that offer product information,
deals and, very often, advice that helps position the brand on a
much wider footing. The Pampers Web site has become a popular source of
advice on all aspects of mothering, so taking the brand definition far beyond
a simple supplier of nappies.
The interaction is two way, providing information to the brand owners on
how to steer their brand positioning in the future. Consumers are given a
new channel of enquiry in this exchange, and with equal access to
competitors’ sites, there is an increase in the transparency of the brand for
the consumer. Choice is made easier, comparisons are made easier, and in
some cases genuine enquiry into value received can be made. In this way,
the Internet promises to keep brands on their toes as much as it gives them a
new medium of interaction.
There is a dilemma here for the typical fmcg branded product. Consumers
tend to buy baskets of groceries, not individual products, so won’t the brand’s
Web site inevitably lose out to the retailers? The offer of advice through the
Web site is one response, but perhaps there are more cunning ones in store.
Where would you expect to find information on Jaffa cakes? In the McVities
site or on a kids’ site? Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer…
Swatch is keen to make a radically new, but hugely relevant, association between its
brand and the notion of time. Universal or Internet Time, ‘launched’ in 1998, divides the
day into 1,000 beats, and time zones are gone. Should it catch on, who knows what we
might be saying in years to come? Perhaps ‘Swatch Time’ in place of ‘Greenwich Mean
Time’ – even ‘log in with me at 800 “Swatch Time”’ – a powerful association indeed.
Below are partner sites we recommend:
- bay3000: Hawaii business brokers helping business owners and franchisors successfully sell their businesses, and enable entrepreneurs from around the world to own businesses in Kona, Maui and other cities in Hawaii.
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As many as two out of three new product launches are examples of brand
extension. This is where an existing brand is used to support the launch of a
new product. The reasons are clear: new product launches are very risky,
most fail, and using the ‘halo’ of an existing brand can help
to reduce that risk. If the market is also new, then the risk is even greater and
the halo effect yet more important.
Brand extension comes in different forms. The simplest is the launch of
the existing product in a new format. Soap powder takes on a liquid form
under the same brand name, or Mars bars are shrunk into bite-sized pieces
and launched as Mars Little Ones. Some would argue that this was really
still brand augmentation, with the brand chasing much the same market
with much the same product — or does the Mars Little Ones proposition
target a new buyer in a new circumstance? This is more than playing with
words: augmentation is relatively safe territory, dealing with what you
know already; genuine extension enters the higher-risk zone.
Next up the ladder of extension is the launch of what we might call
companion products under the same name. Gillette razor blades will add
Gillette razors and then Gillette shaving foam. Once each brand extension is
successfully established, the process of brand augmentation will recommence,
adding Gillette shaving gel to the shaving foam range, and so on.
The highest-risk brand extension is when the brand leaves its own
territory. Virgin, as we have seen, is adept at this, reducing the risk through
use of the brand halo effect and ensuring that it translates the existing brand
values to the new market. Caterpillar has had success with its rugged
outdoor clothing line, as has JCB, which has also moved into children’s toys — with mini yellow diggers in abundance. These are extensions that ‘make
sense’, which is to say that the target customer can see the relevance and
accept the translated brand values. For JCB, durability, functionality and a
rugged outdoor quality were all values and images that could be transferred
to a range of clothing.
Some extensions make less sense.
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