Partly it’s people agreeing on what it stands for. We know this from measuring the degree of consensus among respondents. But too many extensions can jeopardise this consensus. In the mid-80s Crest toothpaste had over fifty extensions on its books and was struggling. ‘No toothpaste should have more stock keeping units than teeth in one’s mouth,’ said its consultants. Crest took heed, cut down its product line and saw its market share recover.
If you’re hoping to launch an extension, you need the parent’s equity to work in your favour. By finding out exactly what a parent stands for emotionally, you can make sure the extension doesn’t clash with the category. And by understanding the performance needs that exist in the market, you can make the extension distinctive. Add more focused and memorable ad support and you’ve got a better chance of launching a winner. Real brand extensions succeed all the time, but more of them fail. As Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling said, ‘The trick to having good ideas is to come up with a lot of ideas, and then throw out the bad ones’. We’d humbly advise that throwing out the bad ideas happens before you market them……………
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