Brand Extension Themes

Some brands own a thread or theme that can run through a variety of categories

• By Reputation 
• By Association 
• By Design

Whether by design or accident, some brands have a characteristic which can apply to a variety of categories. 

There are three basic types:

Brands that have become extremely well known over time can extend into new categories successfully. Betty Crocker, a brand owned by General Mills was started in 1921. Because of its reputation for reliability and familiarity in baking mixes, the company was able to extend the brand into a variety of product categories that had no other obvious connection.

Some brands can be extended because consumers associate one benefit, attribute, feature, or ingredient, etc. with the brand name. My example of Clorox is one such case. Extensions beyond laundry bleach came about because the company recognized that because bleach kills germs, the brand could be extended to other product categories where killing germs was wanted. Note that this was not a planned effort to develop a line of products from the start that employed this natural thread. It developed because of the associations consumers have with one property of the parent product.

A third type of brand extension example is by design- the case where a company designs a line of brand extensions employing a theme that would be desired in a number of categories. Some threads that are examples are organic, gluten free, Keto and Atkins in the food industry. Simple Mills launched a line of 30 baking mixes, crackers, cookies, bars and frostings that advertise that they are free of gluten, grains, soy and genetically modified ingredients.