Nestlé Crunch Girl Scout Cookie Candy Bars Wins Handily in First Annual Survey Fielded in Partnership With Adweek Magazine
New York, NY – February 4, 2013 – Parham Santana, The Brand Extension Agency, has teamed up with Adweek magazine to determine the Best and Worst Brand Extensions of 2012. Over 11,000 respondents participated in the first annual online poll where they were asked to pick their top three from a list of 10 best and worst identified by Parham Santana.
According to John Parham, President, Director of Branding, Parham Santana, “A successful and lasting brand extension franchise must have three things: a logical fit with the parent brand; leverage for competitive advantage, and; opportunity to enhance the brand and produce sales.”
The Best Brand Extensions of 2012 are:
1. Nestlé Crunch Girl Scout Cookie Candy Bars
2. Duracell PowerMat Wireless Charger
3. ZzzQuil Sleep Aid from NyQuil
The Worst Brand Extensions of 2012 are:
1. Zippo the Woman Perfume
2. Eva Longoria’s SHe Steakhouse
3. Paula Deen Kids Furniture
Parham Santana used the survey results to compare how the best and worst aligned with previous research it conducted of over 500 successful brand extensions titled, “10 Ways to Extend Your Brand” with Dr. Edward M. Tauber, the pioneer of brand extension research. Results of the “10 Ways” research led to a white paper, “Long-Term Brand Extensions: How to Succeed Where Most Fail”.
“What was interesting about the survey was that the winners utilized at least one of the ’10 Ways,'” says Dr. Tauber. John Parham adds that, “The losers, seem to be either operating without a strategic perspective or are stretching what we would call the ‘extendable equity’ – what you ‘own’ in the consumer’s mind, – to the breaking point.”
“The problem with Zippo Perfume is that it is obviously not a logical fit — the properties of lighters do not carry over to provide an advantage in the perfume category,” notes Dr. Tauber. As for Eva Longoria’s SHe Steakhouse, Dr. Tauber says, “Our research identifies two areas where celebrities can create successful brand extensions: if they have an expertise that can be transferred to a new product or if the category represents a certain lifestyle of the celebrity. Neither of these applies to Eva Longoria.” “A similar problem exists for Paula Deen Kids Furniture – she is known for cooking, so while cookware is a logical extension, how does this expertise translate into furniture design?”
In contrast, Nestlé Crunch Girl Scout Cookie Candy Bars uses a classic brand extension strategy where they ‘shift the form’ of an existing product by changing the method of delivery. “The famous cookie flavors are delivered via candy bars,” notes Tauber. “With the Duracell Power Mat Wireless Charger for Mobile Devices another proven strategy is used to ‘leverage a special expertise.’ Specifically, they extend their expertise in batteries and create a product in a different category. Finally, ZzzQuil Sleep Aid transfers a proprietary ‘component’ by isolating the ingredient that helps you sleep when you have a cold to extend into the sleep aid category for people who have difficulty sleeping when they are not ill.”
Methodology: The survey was conducted online at www.adweek.com from December 21, 2012 until January 22, 2013. Over 11,000 total votes were counted.
About Parham Santana
Parham Santana (www.parhamsantana.com), The Brand Extension Agency helps national brands extend and restage in the retail world. Positioning and brand extension strategies for clients have guided long-term multi-billion-dollar retail programs for thousands of products at major national retailers in every channel of distribution – including Walmart, Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond. Parham Santana’s clients are among the worlds leading brands including, Food Network, Better Homes and Gardens, Discovery Channel, American Girl, and Petsmart.