a potential challenge to the high values placed on current global
brands. There is also, obviously, the potential for the current global
brands to end up as the dominant players in the e-commerce market
thereby reinforcing their position and value.
● Durability: Some brands manage to maintain a contemporary appeal
and retain their relevance to customers over a long period of time.
These brands tend to have created strong customer loyalty and
become an established player in the market. A study by Blackett found
that brands such as Cadbury in the chocolate market, Gillette in
razors, Kodak in film and Colgate in toothpaste, all were the brand
leaders in their market areas over the period 1931–1991 (Murphy,
1991). Such long-term brand leaderships are therefore likely to gener-
ate high valuations.
● Extendibility: Brands that have the ability to be extended into related
markets or stretched in new markets offer greater value than brands
with more limited options. The Bic brand, for example, has been suc-
cessfully extended from disposable pens into a number of other dis-
posable markets such as cigarette lighters and razors. Andrex in 1987
had 39 per cent of the toilet paper market by 1994 this share had
dropped to 28 per cent due to increased competition from discounters
(Kapferer, 1997). However, the potential to extend the brand allowed
the company to enter related markets for products as such as kitchen
paper, paper tissues, etc.
● Protection: Brands that have some protection from coping through
patents or registered trademarks or designs, potentially offer greater
value. However, this protection has in reality been limited. In particu-
lar, retailers have launched own label products with similar packaging
to market leading brands.
Targeting, positioning and brand strategy 197Illustrative Example 9.4
Red Bull
The energy drinks market has been a fast-growing sector over the last few years and current
sales are around £775 million a year in the UK. In Western Europe Red Bull holds around two-
thirds of the market. This is a market that a company can enter with relatively low levels of
investment and this has resulted in a rash of brands with similar characteristics to Red Bull
being launched. Some drinks have used similar names, such as, Red Rhino and Red Bat, some
have used similar style packaging. In order to defend its brand Red Bull has resorted to legal
action. So far it has won its case against a drink called Shark in the UK and other cases in the
Netherlands and Australia. It is believed Red Bull has also settled out of court with up to 12
other drink brands in the UK. Red Bull believes unless it takes action, not only will their brand
suffer a lack of differentiation in the market but also the whole category will be damaged by
the resulting customer confusion.