Brand extension

Brand extension refers to the use of a successful brand name to launch a new or modified product in a same broad market. A successful brand helps a company enter new product categories more easily. Some good examples of this are: Jell-o (pudding, pudding snacks), Crayola (markers, pens and paints), Dole (pineapple juice, fruit juice, fruit salad, fruit juice frozen fruit bars), Ivory (soap, dishwashing liquid, gentle care detergent), Woolite (fabric wash, carpet cleaner spray), Arm & Hammer (toothpaste).

Brand extension can be very profitable to company or can fail. Harley Davidson perfume, Coors spring water. Both of these were doomed to failure because of the brand name’s attachment to an unrelated product. However, the prize for the most bizarre brand extension must go to Bic. The company, best known for producing disposable pens, thought its brand name was strong enough to be applied to other categories. Indeed, it had already achieved success with disposable cigarette lighters and safety razors. The unifying factor here was ‘disposability’. Bic pens, lighters and razors were all throwaway goods. Bic could exploit its well-established distribution network and sell the lighters and razors in the same outlets as its pens.

However, when the Bic brand applied its name to women’s underwear, consisting of a line of ‘disposable pantyhose’ they were unable to attract customers. Okay, so the disposability element was still there. But that was about it. Consumers were unable to see any link between Bic’s other products and underwear; because of course there was no link. The main problem was that the company insisted on using the Bic name.