Brand Extension for Rookies

Are you wondering if your brand is ready to stretch success into a new product category?

Brand Extension is an important decision, especially for a brand that has experienced a triumph in one single category and now wants to set sails for new adventures.

At Truberries quite often we’ve been asked by management and marketing teams questions that raise concerns about how brands can take this next step by eliminating all the risks. Below are the most common:

• “How can I be sure that this would be a natural fit for my brand?”
• “What would be the best category for my brand to expand further?”
• “How big is the demand and what should I expect from this new activity?”
• “Consumers will easily accept our new product, or this will create confusion comparing to the mother brand/category?”
• “Is our new product going to solve a problem that consumers have?”
• “Do we have a really compelling story to say?”
• “Who can help us make the right story? Are there specific criteria that the right story should meet?”

All these questions are more than fair, especially today that consumers are constantly on the lookout for the next best thing. Ignoring to answer the above questions implies a high risk of being left to randomness.

If you believe your brand is ready to enter a new market, simply do not throw caution to the winds!

Slapping your logo onto a new product, is not enough! It’s crucial first to make sure you are aware of your customers’ expectations about a new product in the category you want to gain share, their unmet needs and usage attitudes, as well as their perceptions on your brand, based on its footprint and products, up to now. By knowing the above, you will then be at ease to secure your product makes sense for consumers’ lives (both as a function and as a narration) and fits within your brand perception.

One repeated mistake that quite few launches have suffered is happening in case that the new product, irrespectively of how good performer it is, does not reflect the Brand Essence, that core quality that brand has communicated to its consumers up to the moment of that new launch. A brand should be immediately recognized by its audience, otherwise a new launch can result to brand dilution.

In addition, it is also essential to explore how big and influential is your current brand, before the new launch. Strong mothers are more prone to create strong children; therefore, the evaluation of your mother brand will determine at a large extent the potential of success of your new product. Moreoever, by early assessing any possible weaknesses of the mother brand, it is easier to clarify what the new, brand extension story could say and what it could not.

Last but not least, managing brand extensions in the right way can be beneficial not only for the market share that you can gain in the new category: it can also return back value to mother brand, solidifying its image and equity. One such case has been the brand extension of Kris Kris, a Greek packaged bread brand, namely Tostimo. Having worked closely for the launches of Tostimo, we have guided the team towards the fine-tunings of the concept, as well as towards the optimum way the new brand should talk, in order to enhance the value of the mother brand.

Truberries can help you design a successful brand extension strategy that can reinforce the credibility of your brand, as well as to connect you with new audiences in new markets. Discover how by contacting us at info@truberries.com