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Branding, Positioning and Differentiation
by: Scott White
Why identical twins don’t have identical first names
Though they may look the same, they’re not. Just ask their parents.
Even as newborns, they could tell them apart, and as they grow up, they’re
distinctions become ever more pronounced. This is why we don’t give
twin babies the same first names.
In the business world, this idea would seem to carry over as the foundation
for a common sensical approach to branding—that different products need
to be different brands with different names. However, the only thing common
about this sense is that it’s all too commonly ignored in the hopes
of cheating risk and the possibility of failure.
Overextended brands are like overstretched rubber bands
Everyone’s heard of a company called Kraft. “Hey, those are the
cheese people.” Yep. For years, Kraft and cheese were synonymous. It
was a Corporate Branding with a position competitors would have been hard-pressed
to erode had company brass been content in their cheesiness. They weren’t.
Like many companies blessed with strong brands, Kraft began to think their
brand name was invincible and that any product introduced under its banner
would dominate their markets simply because of its name. So, Kraft began
offering jams, jellies and mayonnaise among other things.
The numerical truth about Kraft’s brand extension strategy
Ohio-based Smucker’s owns 35% of the jams and jellies market. Kraft
has 9%. Hellman’s mayonnaise has 42% of the mayo market. Kraft has 18%.
The plan for equal domination didn’t quite work out as planned. Despite
its dominance in the cheese market, Kraft was relegated to bit player status
in these other categories. Their strategy of trying to leverage a great brand
name into being all things to all people resulted in few real winning products.
Why doesn’t being all things to all people work?
In your family, you may have been the smart one. If you had brothers and
sisters, there may have been the “social” one, the
“rebellious” one or the “athletic” one, too. And invariably,
those attributes seem to stick with a person throughout their life, often
regardless of whether they change.
In Japan, Honda is known as a motorcycle company that dabbles in cars. In
America, it’s a car company that dabbles in motorcycles. Despite the
fact the company is equally prolific makers of both, the two different markets
have Honda pegged as either/or. One name, one product. Burned-in and branded
for life. This is because motorcycles and motor vehicles are two different
product categories. It proves that conquering multiple different categories
with one brand name doesn’t work. Rather, companies who wish to expand
into other product areas, or a first product area for that matter, need to
do so by using a strong brand identity as the foundation of its marketing
strategy. Either that or create new product lines that somehow relate to
your old product line, such as cheese companies putting out a line of pre-made
cheese and cracker snacks. What Ritz did with Mini Ritz sandwiches, Kraft
could have easily done by focusing the product’s marketing slant on
the cheese in the cracker.
So what do you do with a brand once you have created one?
Those responsible for the brand defend the integrity of the brand and build
on it. Just as Barbie dolls have for decades while Ninja Turtles and Cabbage
Patch Dolls came and went. The Barbie brand recognizes the niche it fills
in the toy industry—dolls with interchangeable clothes. Nothing else.
Of course, refreshing a brand is completely necessary over its lifecycle.
Barbie has a way of doing this built-in to its product—changing clothing
styles. As the times change, so do Barbie & Ken’s wardrobe. But
that’s just one way a brand remains strong through the years. Survey
any industry, and you’ll find that long-term successful brands have
at some point had to reinvent themselves along the way—like automobile
companies of today in the beginning stages of moving to alternative sources
for energy. This is the same thing that successful magazines do. They carve
out a niche, become the leader in it and then defend it by banking on their
uniqueness and further differentiating themselves from the competition—not
duplicating it.
If this is the case, why do companies try to extend a brand?
Because launching a completely new brand is very risky and expensive. Often
times, initial results of brand extension are positive, but the initiative
commonly begins to lose ground and takes some of the overall brand strength
with it.
Why creating a new brand is better for business than extending one.
In New Zealand, there is one Airline Company, but two airline brands. Air
New Zealand is about top-class service with all the frills. Freedom Air,
on the other hand, is the airline for the budget conscious. The two brands
operate successfully and independently of each other, which allows the parent
company to serve two distinctly different air travel markets.
Less really is best
A niche brand may not offer the sheer number potential of a more generalized
brand, but it does offer something a lot better—sustainability. Over
the long term, as your brand becomes synonymous with a specific kind of product
or service, more people will turn to you for that product or service…and
continue to do so because they believe they’re getting quality only
a specialist can provide.
A jack-of-all-trades really is master of none. So if you are a master, or
wish to become one, do it. Be it. Just not to everyone.
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About The Author
Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru
http://www.brandidentityguru.com
a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Boston,
Massachusetts. Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and
product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand
valuation.
swhite@brandidentityguru.com
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