One Trade Mark Owner - Competing & Complementary Brands
Trademark owners like to build up the goodwill in their brands - brands with significant goodwill typically have high market visibility and consumer loyalty. This, in turn, makes it easier to sell product, introduce new product lines, and maintain a stable customer base.
Goodwill is complex, but is often based around values, and are typically what consumers believe the brand stands for. This could be health & vitality, quality, reliability and endurance, style, and so on. Smart TM owners take advantage of these values to grow their goodwill in conjunction with market growth.
A problem, which the marketing sector is all too aware of, is that different demographics have different value sets and expectations - don't expect a grandparent in mid-West USA to base their buying decisions on the same criteria as a teenager in Norway.
A trademark must represent something. A universal message is possible - health and vitality is the same for everyone, particularly if applied to food and nutrition. However, this is not always the case. When your grandmother meets her friends for morning tea, she is not going to wear the same fragrance as a single young woman going on a date. In fact, each would probably reject what the other would wear on the basis that that is not the image they wish to be associated with. Hence we have a marketing problem. How do we cater to both.
The typical approach is to divide the market into two (or more) demographics or target groups. For simplicity we shall consider two. Take a step back and decide what you are really doing. In this example we are selling fragrance - not trying to sell identical product to both groups. Then the product, and packaging, and sales message, is adapted to represent what is appropriate for each group. We shall leave it to you to imagine what message would be appropriate.
The comparable products (or product ranges) are then marketed under different brand names to each group. The marketing strategy identifies the different values and buying criteria of each group, and ideally there are two brands which can each develop a deep loyalty (and goodwill) in each group. Two brands, from the same trade mark owner - which may or may not be highlighted to the consumer. When done well the brands, even though for comparable products to the same trademark owner, may act in a complementary manner allowing for a greater total market share.
The fragrance industry is a good example of this. Fragrances are often released under a particular name and marketed in a manner claiming to represent the nature and character of the person who wears it. Carefree & flirtatious, stylish & approachable, elegant & graceful ... The industry are so effective at this that women and men often adopt a signature scent which they consider reflects their character.
The same approach is also useful in other areas. Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Toyota, and Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of Nissan.
Unilever is large enough to have a raft of brands and products, but for its personal hygiene products uses the Dove brand to target women and the Lynx brand for men.
42 Below vodka, a brand independently started in New Zealand and aimed at a young demographic, was acquired by Bacardi who realised that as its loyal customer base aged, it was losing the younger demographic. Acquiring an established brand with considerable goodwill in its target demographic, was considered to be a good solution.
Often the same product might have different brand names in different geographical regions. While there may be legal reasons for this, it can make good marketing sense to tailor your brands to your market - especially if the brand has negative connotations in the language or culture of a different market.
Hence competing brands might not truly compete. In the ideal situation they happily coexist, complementing each other to ensure the brand owner has a greater total market share.
Trademark owners like to build up the goodwill in their brands - brands with significant goodwill typically have high market visibility and consumer loyalty. This, in turn, makes it easier to sell product, introduce new product lines, and maintain a stable customer base.
Goodwill is complex, but is often based around values, and are typically what consumers believe the brand stands for. This could be health & vitality, quality, reliability and endurance, style, and so on. Smart TM owners take advantage of these values to grow their goodwill in conjunction with market growth.
A problem, which the marketing sector is all too aware of, is that different demographics have different value sets and expectations - don't expect a grandparent in mid-West USA to base their buying decisions on the same criteria as a teenager in Norway.
A trademark must represent something. A universal message is possible - health and vitality is the same for everyone, particularly if applied to food and nutrition. However, this is not always the case. When your grandmother meets her friends for morning tea, she is not going to wear the same fragrance as a single young woman going on a date. In fact, each would probably reject what the other would wear on the basis that that is not the image they wish to be associated with. Hence we have a marketing problem. How do we cater to both.
The typical approach is to divide the market into two (or more) demographics or target groups. For simplicity we shall consider two. Take a step back and decide what you are really doing. In this example we are selling fragrance - not trying to sell identical product to both groups. Then the product, and packaging, and sales message, is adapted to represent what is appropriate for each group. We shall leave it to you to imagine what message would be appropriate.
The comparable products (or product ranges) are then marketed under different brand names to each group. The marketing strategy identifies the different values and buying criteria of each group, and ideally there are two brands which can each develop a deep loyalty (and goodwill) in each group. Two brands, from the same trade mark owner - which may or may not be highlighted to the consumer. When done well the brands, even though for comparable products to the same trademark owner, may act in a complementary manner allowing for a greater total market share.
The fragrance industry is a good example of this. Fragrances are often released under a particular name and marketed in a manner claiming to represent the nature and character of the person who wears it. Carefree & flirtatious, stylish & approachable, elegant & graceful ... The industry are so effective at this that women and men often adopt a signature scent which they consider reflects their character.
The same approach is also useful in other areas. Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Toyota, and Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of Nissan.
Unilever is large enough to have a raft of brands and products, but for its personal hygiene products uses the Dove brand to target women and the Lynx brand for men.
42 Below vodka, a brand independently started in New Zealand and aimed at a young demographic, was acquired by Bacardi who realised that as its loyal customer base aged, it was losing the younger demographic. Acquiring an established brand with considerable goodwill in its target demographic, was considered to be a good solution.
Often the same product might have different brand names in different geographical regions. While there may be legal reasons for this, it can make good marketing sense to tailor your brands to your market - especially if the brand has negative connotations in the language or culture of a different market.
Hence competing brands might not truly compete. In the ideal situation they happily coexist, complementing each other to ensure the brand owner has a greater total market share.