Marketing Communications

BRAND STRATEGIES 47

backed by suffi cient advertising support. Respondents who were exposed to an ad fi ve times

responded signifi cantly more positively (or less negatively) than respondents who saw the ad

only once.^23 Furthermore, other studies show that some individuals are more sensitive to

incongruent extensions than others. Consumers from East Asian countries and females, for

example, are more likely to seek a connection and consequently respond more positively to

moderate incongruent extensions than Western consumers and males.^24 Secondly, there is the

risk of brand dilution. Th is occurs when the brand name is used for so many diff erent product

categories that the brand personality becomes fuzzy and the brand’s value deteriorates.^25 I f

Virgin had not continuously articulated the abstract characteristics of its origin (i.e. fun, hip

and subversive) in all its products, it could have been detrimental to use the brand name

Virgin for products so fundamentally diff erent as airlines, compact discs and soft drinks. By

stressing its abstract characteristics, Virgin seems to become virtually product independent,

embodying a mere brand concept or image.^26

A survey on brand extensions in which branding and marketing professionals could vote for the best and worst

brand extensions showed that key factors for successful extensions are a strong brand and a loyal consumer.

Moreover, the most successful extensions came from ‘companies that really know their customers, and know the

limitations of their brands even more so’. Winners were, among others, Coppertone, extending its suncare brand to

sunglasses, and Mr Clean Performance Car Washes. Burger King men’s apparel and Kellogg’s hip-hop streetwear

won the votes for worst brand extensions.^27

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Brand extension losers and winners

A special case of extension strategies is corporate branding. In this case, the name of the com-

pany is used for all the company’s products. Th is strategy is oft en used by service companies

like banks and insurance companies for which the reputation and the endorsement of a reliable

company is very important. For the same reason, it is also very valuable for high-technology

products. Potential customers have more faith in a long-established and experienced com-

pany with a good reputation, which will be able to off er consistent high-quality support in the

future. Corporate branding is very similar to the other extension strategies and therefore has

the same advantages and disadvantages. One additional disadvantage is that a corporate

branding strategy is relatively infl exible. Specifi c niches that are not associated with the cor-

porate reputation cannot be effi ciently targeted on the basis of a corporate branding strategy.^28

In the mid-1990s, Samsung Electronics Co. was still a lower-end consumer electronics producer bringing its product

onto the market under a handful of brand names including Wiseview, Tantus and Yepp. To move up the value chain,

the company had to build a stronger identity. Therefore, the company got rid of its other brands and invested in

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Samsung, the new electronics giant

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