August 27, 2007 | Category: Branding, Marketing | Tags: Branding Tips

So, you finally have a widely recognized brand. What’s your next step? This is a question faced by entrepreneurs after a successful marketing campaign for their initial brand. If you want to grow your business, you can either introduce a new brand or come up with product extensions.

Unfortunately, some entrepreneurs immediately decide to extend their successful brands without analyzing the consequences of their actions. Before you decide on this alternative, you should do it for the right reasons. Brand Curve highlights the top 5 reasons to extend your brand and the main goal is:

Brand extensions can reduce the costs and risks associated with launching a new product. Since the brand name is already known and (hopefully) popular, using that brand name on a new product (particularly when it’s in the same line as the original product) immediately communicates the same level of awareness and perception.

For brand extension to have a value, it should serve the unmet needs of the main brand and expand usage to different segments. If the main brand is strongly associated with one category, you should limit your brand extension within the same category.