Brands are living entities. They rise and fall according to consumer interest in them, which is driven in part by marketing’s efforts to extend the life of the brand. This is where market research comes into play.
Whether you are a brand manager for a multi-million dollar consumer brand or the owner of a single-site retail operation it is a costly endeavor to expand your brand into new territories. There are direct costs as well as potential hidden risks to customer satisfaction and brand equity. Hence it is imperative to begin the process by conducting a thorough assessment of the market and its willingness to adopt your new ideas.
For example, a well known brewer in the early 1990s released a product that was tangent to their primary product, but marketed under its own brand name. In doing so the brewer minimized potential negative reaction to its primary brand. This is something to think about if you are considering extending your primary brand into new markets.
In preparing for a brand extension a full-range of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods should be considered. As part of the survey portion of the project you might opt to conduct ‘blind’ research where respondents are not privy to the sponsor of the research. This will help to minimize any halo effect where a respondent’s impressions of the primary brand could cloud their opinions of the prospective extension. It will also help to prevent competitors from directly identifying the sponsor and developing competitive positions against the potential extension.
Extensions are a part of the lifecycle of any brand, both consumer and B2B. In order for them to be successful they must be preceded by a full-phase research effort. This effort should not end when the extension is launched, but should be continued to identify early adopters, gauge awareness levels and measure social media effects on both the extension and the primary brand.