Brand Extension Strategy Planning: Empirical Estimation of Brand–Category Personality Fit and Atypicality

The majority of brand extensions reportedly fail, suggesting the need for methodologies that allow for better strategic prediction of categories into which a brand should extend or license. Prior literature suggests that brand extensions are likely to be more successful if a brand extends into another category into which its existing brand associations and imagery “fit” better and if the extending brand is “atypical” (if it possesses associations and imagery that are broad and abstract rather than tied too closely to the brand's original product category). The authors develop a methodology in this study to estimate brand and category personality structures, using a Bayesian factor model that separates the two by means of brand-level and category-level random effects. This methodology leads to measures of a brand's fit and atypicality. The authors illustrate and validate the model on two nationally representative data sets on brand personalities in three categories (jeans, magazines, and cars) and investigate the brand extension and licensing implications of the results obtained with the model.