How many times do you or hear others say “I want to expand my brand” or better yet, “I want to extend my brand?” Whoa, wait a minute. With all due respect and we’re being honest here, many businesses have yet to build their brand. A name and logo does not a brand make. And the three words, build, expand and extend are not synonymous. Truth is, in branding, expansion diminishes a brand’s power and weakens its image, while extension just about obliterates it. Think American Express, which in 1988 had just a handful of cards and 27 percent of the credit card market. Then the company embarked on a quest to expand its brand, introduced a slew of cards and saw its market share plummet. In 2010, according to Cardhub.com, market share decreased to eight percent for the company in which membership has its privileges. In their book, The 22 Laws of Immutable Branding, Al Ries and Laura Ries contend that customers want brands that are narrow in scope and distinguishable. Further, brand extensions have more to do with manufacturers and retailers than customers. Check out this great list of brand extensions gone wrong from Business Insider – our apologies to all of our MTV fans and friends for Snooki’s Supre Tan made the list.
Branding is intricate and involves promises that your company makes to consumers, how you deliver on those promises and how they value your products. Here’s a short, back-to-basics, video featuring motivational speaker and author Brian Tracy that will help you build your brand.
For daily marketing communications news, subscribe to LGK’s free, online, MarCom Digest. Maximize your momentum!