How to Expand Your Brand

November 30, 2010
How to Expand Your Brand

You’ve got a brand that people respond to and trust — no small feat. But now you're looking for growth opportunities to expand your company. So, how can you use your brand’s reputation to create new revenue streams?

Leah Brown, founder and CEO of A10 Clinical Solutions, began with a company that get vital drugs to market faster. She successfully expanded her company into a multi-platform operation providing management services for on-site health care clinics.

Brown says it helps to “understand where your product or service is in the supply chain, and to expand to an area that’s going to bring more value to clients and result in higher profit margins.”

Branding Strategy Insider’s Bran VanAuken explains how the "Halo effect" of new product lines can cut both ways with a list of aspects to consider when planning to extend the brand, including the impact of adding a more premium or inexpensive product, the importance of testing the waters, and the pros and cons of introducing a “sub-brand.”

International clothing brand Topshop launched a full makeup line this year as well as a virtual makeover feature on their website. Though it's a natural progression for the company, experts say they must still consider factors like price, packaging, display and competitors.

Julia Kaye of Sundance London says it’s always important to consider The Three B’s: what the extension brings to the brand, what it borrows from the brand and how it builds on the brand’s vision.

Bonus PINK Link: Before you expand your brand, does it need revitalizing?

By Marc Schultz

"Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found." Anne Morrow Lindbergh