How to grasp brand expansion? There are two ways to expand a brand

It is estimated that in some consumer goods markets in developed countries in Europe and the United States, it generally costs US $50-150 million to cultivate a new brand. The investment demand for establishing a successful agricultural product brand in China will also reach tens of millions or even more than 100 million yuan. But in fact, even with a huge amount of financial support, the success rate of the new brand is very limited, and there are many examples of famous and short-lived examples such as Qinchi wine and prince's milk. In comparison, if you use a highly recognized brand name to launch a new product, the investment required will be greatly reduced and the possibility of success will be greatly improved.

Therefore, when an enterprise's brand is successful in the market, customers will have strong emotional brand dependence after long-term contact and use, so when launching new products, make use of the market influence of the existing brand to expand the brand. it becomes a natural path choice. In fact, the application of successful brand names in one category of products to other categories of products has become the core strategy for many enterprises to achieve growth.

There are two ways to expand the brand: one is to apply the brand name to a new product category, or to license the brand name to other companies to allow it to be used in such products. The other is to acquire other companies, and then expand the brand through its brand name. A number of well-known domestic agricultural enterprises, such as Mengniu Dairy, Yili Dairy, Yanjing Beer, Huiyuan Juice and so on, have successfully realized brand expansion and enterprise expansion in this way.

But it must also be clearly recognized that brand expansion is not a "master key" for enterprise development, but more often a double-edged sword. The comparison of some brand names after expansion with that before expansion is not very helpful, but may produce subtle and even negative associations. Sometimes the survival and growth of the expanded brand is at the expense of the market share and influence of the original brand, and the brand expansion is based on the shrinkage and "pain" of the original product, and the loss often outweighs the gain. Therefore, in the process of brand expansion decision evaluation, we should not only look at the market influence of the brand to promote the listing of new products, but also analyze whether the market and social positioning of the product is conducive to the stability of the brand market and social status. Whether the two can complement each other, we must not take care of one or the other or even drink poison to quench thirst.

Therefore, in the process of brand expansion decision-making, we must repeatedly ask from two angles: on the one hand, is the brand name helpful to the brand to be expanded? This can be measured from many angles, such as consumption grade, quality association and so on. For example, the launch of the Xinqi vitamin C tablet has strengthened its association with oranges, health and vitality. Mengniu's "not all milk is called Trensu" naturally connects "Terunsu" with Inner Mongolia prairie, high-quality pasture and gold milk. On the other hand, does the expanded brand help to improve the core brand image? For example, assuming that the core brand is targeted at the demand for high-end agricultural products of high-income groups in large and medium-sized cities, care must be taken when expanding the popular agricultural brand to the working class. Because the original target customers naturally question whether the product quality has been generalized, otherwise how can they enter the hypermarket.

In the final analysis, only when the expanded brand matches the original brand, consumers will naturally transfer the good impression and association of the original brand to the expanded brand. Some studies have shown that there are two ways to improve this matching degree: one is that skills can be transferred. For example, Haidilao is not only a great success in the popular hot pot catering market, but also the expansion of a series of Haidilao seasonings, hot pot seasonings, fried seasonings in the common people's supermarket seasoning shelves are also popular. Because it is easy to believe that Haidilao tastes so good not only because of the good meat, but also because of the seasoning. Second, the functions can complement each other. For example, fresh milk brands with high market recognition extend to yogurt and milk powder brands, tourism food brands extend to beverage brands, and so on.

The following steps can be taken to expand the brand: first, to carry out a brand recognition survey. That is, when it comes to brand names, consumers will think of anything. For example, when it comes to "Daoxiang Village", people may think of Beijing, gifts, pastries, food, time-honored brands, court, delicacy, and rest assured. The second is to carry out product identification survey. That is, when mentioning the brand name, consumers will think of what products. About "Daoxiang Village", it may be associated with dim sum, pancakes, moon cakes and other dessert varieties. The third is to determine the categories of alternative products. According to the categories listed in the first two steps, and according to the principle of matching the extended brand with the core brand, several alternative extended brands are determined. The fourth is to try to purchase. Put a small amount of extended brand products into the target market, obtain the attempted purchase rate, and finally determine the extended brand plan.

At present, the main body of agricultural production and management in China is generally small, or there are not many strong brands with high market recognition. Therefore, for a considerable number of agricultural enterprises, before the main brand is not strong enough, we should be cautious about whether to expand the brand, how to expand the brand and other issues related to the overall brand strategy.