Page 313 - Foundations of Marketing

280 Part 4 | Product and Price Decisions

Family Branding
The maker of Kellogg’s cereals
employs family branding on
its cereals. Note that the name
“Kellogg’s” appears on each
type of cereal.

© iStockphoto.com /Juanmonino

Marketers share a common concern that if a brand is extended too many times or extended
too far outside its original product category, the brand can be weakened signifi cantly. For
example, Pillsbury tried to extend its brand into the air freshener product category. Its Pills-
bury Potpourri Spritz collection, which included scents like “cinnamon roll,” did not sell well
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and were eventually discontinued. Research has found that a line extension into premium
categories can be an effective strategy to revitalize a brand, but the line extension needs to be
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closely linked to the core brand. Other research, however, suggests that diluting a brand by
extending it into dissimilar product categories could have the potential to suppress consumer
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consideration and choice for the original brand. Table 10.3 describes brand extensions that
failed because they were too dissimilar to their core product.

Table 10.3 Worst Brand Extensions

Brand Name Core Product Failed Brand Extension

Smith & Wesson Firearms Mountain Bikes
Bic Pens Bic Underwear

Cosmopolitan Magazine Yogurt

Wrigley Candy Life Savers Soda
Coors Beer Rocky Mountain Spring Water

Colgate Consumer products Colgate Kitchen Entrees

Frito-Lay Snack foods Lemonade
Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Perfume

Source: “Top 25 Biggest Product Flops of All Time,” DailyFinance, www.dailyfi nance.com/photos/top-25-biggest-product-
fl ops-of-all-time/ (accessed January 16, 2013).

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