Have you been busy brainstorming ways to grow your brand and generate new revenue streams?
I recently participated in a Business Chicks Masterclass hosted by Scott Templeton, who is the Head of Merchandise and Licensing at Carlton United Breweries. He shared his insights in this very topic.
He started by getting us to think of our brand in terms of “share of life,” which is how much in a 24-hour day your brand is entangled in a person’s life.
Scott used the example of Carlton beer. Clearly, beer is not going to be a part of a person’s life 24/7, so the company tries to see how it can be present in other aspects of the day. For example, being a part of a person’s breakfast (perhaps via a collaboration with Nespresso) or how they can get their customers to wear a Carlton branded t-shirt.
Why do we want to increase our “share of life” and extend our brands?
- To build new and incremental value
- To build credibility
- To generate engagement and newsworthiness
- To increase touchpoints with your customers, improves brand loyalty
When brainstorming ways to extend your brand, it’s always a good idea to start with the Four Ps of Product (and if you have a service-based business, just swap product here for experience).
- Purpose – what customer problem is your product solving?
- Positioning – How do you differentiate from your competitors? What story does your brand tell?
- Premiumisation – Success requires a good product. In other words, don’t make sh*t. Focus on quality, design and collaboration.
- Product – build premium product extensions through the Lasso approach.
- L – Lateral. Make sure the product fits into your portfolio.
- A – Addictive. Create talkability through surprise and delight.
- S – Storied. Share your story and create memories that link customers back to your brand. Focus on new angles (like environmental purposes).
- S – Scalable. Make sure your product can grow sustainably and remain true to your brand.
- O – Ownable. Make sure your brand DNA is embedded in this product (colour, taste, smell, ingredient, a benefit, a feeling)
Ok, you have a new product/experience/service idea. Now what? It’s time to leverage.
According to Scott, there are seven different ways to leverage your new brand extension.
- Shift the form – change things just enough to change categories. This helps you reach new markets and new customers.
- Transfer a component – Take your greatest hit and break it down (g. Victoria Bitter used their signature hops to create a black tea).
- Sell companion products – Offer products that are used alongside your star product.
- Leverage your customer base – Extend further where you already are.
- Leverage expertise – In what other areas can you put your expertise to good use?
- Leverage lifestyle or heritage – If your brand has stood the test of time, find other things that speak to your brand core values and go from there (g. Discovery Channel extended into educational toys).
- Change the game – Make sure your brand elements continue to evolve and don’t get outdated.
