Skip to main content
+ 
BRAND LEVERAGING 
Subject: 
BRAND BUILDING 
Faculty Name: 
Vishal Desai 
Batch 
(BMM class of 2015) 
Year (TY) 
India’s premier M-school 
Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies (dgmcms.org.in)
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Brand Leveraging 
 A brand leveraging strategy uses the power of an existing brand 
to expand the product class or to support a company’s entry into a 
new product category 
 Brand leveraging is an important form of new product introduction 
because it provides consumers with a sense of familiarity by 
carrying positive brand characteristics and attitudes into a new 
product category. 
 Instant recognition of the brand is established, and consumers 
with a favorable brand opinion are likely to try a new product they 
perceive to have similar quality level and attributes as their 
original favorite
Co-branding 
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Leveraging Strategy 
Leveraging 
the brand 
Line 
Extension 
Stretching the 
brand 
vertically 
Stretching 
Up 
Stretching 
Down 
Brand 
Extension 
Ad-hoc brand 
extension 
Creating a 
range brand
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Line Extension Strategies 
0.5 
liter 1 liter 2 ltrs 5 ltrs 10 ltrs 
Product 
Size 
(Bisleri) 
Ingredient 
(Pepsodent) 
Pink Black Purple Gold 
Flavors 
(Tropicana) 
Orange Apple 
Mixed 
Fruit Grapes Guava Cranberry 
Colour 
(Sunsilk) 
Form 
(Vim) 
Germi check Whitening 2 in 1 
Pro 
Sensitive 
Bar Liquid Powder
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Line Extension 
 When a variant is added to an existing brand it is called Line 
Extension. 
 The variant could be in terms of flavor, package size, colour, 
form,nutritional content or special additives which targets a sub-set 
of consumers 
 The objective is to satisfy different consumer needs or market 
segments by providing more variety. 
Eg:-Nestle Maggi is available in different flavors like masala, 
chicken, tomato,curry and cuppa mania 
Eg: Pril Bar’s Mango-vinegar variant in Uttar Pradesh 
Nestle has also launched Atta noodles and Maggi Cuppa 
Mania
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Why Line Extension 
 To fulfill customer’s need for variety 
 To cater to sub-segments with in a larger segment 
 To capture customers with different paying capacity 
 Increase Capacity Utilization 
 Increase Profitability 
 To capture more shelf space 
 To fight competition
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Stretching the brand vertically 
• S Class 
• E Class 
• C Class 
• A Class 
• 7 Series 
• 5 Series 
• 3 Series 
• 1 Series 
BMW 
Mercedez 
Benz
+ 
Advantages of stretching the brand 
vertically 
India’s premier M-school 
 Offers a premium version of existing brand to quality conscious consumers. 
Eg: Nano Twist with loaded features, Alto K 10 
Eg: Credit Card - Silver, Gold, Titanium, Signature 
Eg: Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Silk 
 Helps target value conscious consumers by trading down. 
Eg: Stripped down version of Mr. Muscle and Evian water 
Eg: Stripped down version of Original DVD without bonus content (show pack) 
 To counter competition during maturity stage of the brand when price is the 
only deciding factor in consumer’s purchase decision 
 To expand market opportunities in other countries where per capita income is low
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Disadvantages of stretching the 
brand vertically 
• Damage to the core brand as consumers may feel that 
premium charged to them was not justified 
• Increase in volume may not justify the reduction in price 
• Reduction in margins of trade channel partners
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Brand Extension 
 When an existing brand name is used to introduce a new 
product in a different product category. 
Eg: Ponds => Talc, Cold Cream, Facewash, Moisturising lotion,etc 
Eg: Horlicks=> Nutribar, Foodles 
Eg: Catch => Table Salt, Black Salt, Pepper,etc 
Eg: Kingfisher => Beer, Airlines, Mineral water, Training Academy 
Eg: Dabur=> Amla Hair Oil, Chawyanprash,Pudin Hara 
Note: Ponds Toothpaste was a failure
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Types of Brand Extensions 
 Image related extension 
Eg: Britannia has an image of confectionary brand or food products 
brand and hence has launched cakes, biscuits and breads. OR Amul 
is known for milk products and hence has launched 
butter,ghee,cheese,milk,etc 
 Un related Extension: Extension to unrelated product category 
Eg: Wills Cigarettes to Wills lifestyle apparels 
 Complementary Product Extension 
Eg: Colgate Tooth paste and Colgate tooth brush 
Eg: Eveready Battery and Eveready Torches
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
 Expertise related extension: 
Eg: Maruti venturing into 2 wheelers 
Hero venturing into 4 wheelers 
Inox venturing into multiplexes 
 Distinct feature related extension 
Eg: Himani Navratna Hair Oil & Navratna Cool Talc 
Class Exercise (Group) – Name a brand 
that has been extended and the type of 
extension
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Brand Extension 
 Range Brands 
A range brand is one that creates an identity that works across 
product classes. A range brand is some times called a mega-brand. 
Eg: Colgate , Gillette, Adidas /Nike/Reebok
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Brand Extension 
 Ad-Hoc Brand Extension 
This kind of extension is used as a strategy for response to a 
short term event. It is not planned to last. Ad Hoc brands are 
generally built on internal goal based strategy. They are based 
on either monetary value or sentimental value that the 
company gains by introducing a new brand extension. 
Eg: Pepsi launched Pepsi Blue during Cricket World Cup 
2003,Pepsi Gold during World Cup 2007, and Pepsi Atom 
during IPL 2013
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Limitation of brand extension 
 At times the brand cannot be stretched to unrelated categories 
Eg: Amul could not be stretched to Edible Oil 
Eg: Britannia cannot be stretched to Shoes
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Disadvantages of brand extension 
 Failure of brand to add value 
Eg: Vanilla Coke failed in 2004 
 Problem of fit 
Eg: Ponds tooth paste was a failure 
 Failure to carry association of parent brand 
Eg: Lux Shampoo was a failure as Lux soap was strongly positioned as a beauty soap 
where as Lux Shampoo did not carry that association 
 Creation of Undesirable associations 
Eg: Reliance mobile phones when launched had lot of hidden charges and 
negative association was created
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Disadvantages of brand extension 
 Effect of a brand crisis 
Eg: Cadbury’s worm infestation incident had negative effect on all 
Cadbury’s products 
 Failure of new brand 
If the new brand which is launched encounters adverse association 
with the consumer the original parent brand’s image may also be 
diluted.
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Co-Branding 
 Co-Branding also called-Brand Bundling or Brand Alliance; is 
when two or more existing brands are combined into a joint 
product or are marketed together in some way. 
 It can be termed as marketing partnership between two brands. 
 The objective is to combine the strength of two brands , in 
order to increase the premium consumers are willing to pay. 
 It makes the co-branded product more resistant to copying. 
 It combines the different perceived properties associated with 
these brands to make a single product
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Types of Co-branding 
 Ingredient branding: 
- A branded ingredient or component, that has its own brand 
identity, is used to produce another renowned brand/product. 
- This ingredient or constituent brand is sub-ordinate to the 
primary brand. 
- Usually the ingredient brand is the biggest supplier to the 
primary brand 
- The ingredient brand should be unique and should be a major 
brand or should be protected by a patent
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Primary Brand Ingredient Brand 
PCs Intel Inside 
Stereos Dolby 
Sunsilk Keratin Micro Technology 
Orient Fans PSPO 
Maruti Suzuki K Series Engine 
Bajaj Pulsar DTSI 
Hyundai CRDi 
Good Night Active + 
Pantene Pro-V 
Saffola LoSorb Technology 
Kent Water Purifier Mineral RO Technology 
Fiama Di Wills Derma Revitalizers
+ 
Advantages of Ingredient Branding 
India’s premier M-school 
 Branded ingredients are often seen as a signal of quality. 
 There is uniformity in quality of ingredient brand which helps 
maintain consistency in quality of primary brand. 
 Ingredient brands can become industry standards and 
consumers would not buy a product that does not contain the 
ingredient brand.
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Composite Branding 
 The bundling of two brands to provide an enhanced customer benefit 
or reduced cost. 
 Composite co-branding refers to use of two or more renowned brand 
names in a way that can collectively offer a distinct product/service 
that could not be possible individually 
Egs: 
Reliance CDMAS with LG handset 
Nokia with Vodafone 
Airtel with iPhone 
Coca-Cola with McDonalds 
Audi Cars with Bang & Olufsen Sound System 
Channel V Racing Pack & AXN Action Pack
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Advantages of Co-branding 
 Cost effective way of marketing a product 
 Boost to the brand image of both the companies while 
increasing sales volumes and profits 
 If one of the brand is a service brand and the other is a tangible 
product brand , the service brand gets a tangible extension. 
 Increased width of distribution due to distribution strength of 
both the companies 
 Advantageous for a new brand to tie-up with an existing brand 
as it helps the new brand to understand the market dynamics 
with the help of the existing brand
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Disadvantages of co-branding 
 If the two brands involved do not show consistent brand values, 
identity and personality there are chances of dilution of brand 
image 
 Co-branding can fail when the two brands have entirely 
different markets and are entirely different 
 If the vision and mission of the two brands involved are 
different then composite branding may fail 
 If the customers encounter any adverse experience the brand 
image of both the brands may suffer
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Advantages of brand leveraging 
 It increase advertising efficiencies 
 It increases life cycle of a brand 
 Minimises introductory expenses 
 Minimises marketing & distribution expenses 
 Encourages trial purchase 
 Satisfies variety seeking consumers
Line Extension 
(Variants) 
Sunsilk 
Silk & Shine 
Smooth & Soft 
Long & Black 
Brand Extension 
Sunsilk Conditioner 
Lifebuoy 
(Soap to Hand wash) 
Fastrack 
(Watches to Sunglasses) 
Multi Brands 
HUL- Shampoo Brands 
Sunsilk 
Dove 
Clinic Plus 
All Clear 
Diversification 
HUL- FMCG to 
Water Purifiers 
(Pure-it ) 
Glaxo Smithkline 
launching Foodles 
Existing 
New 
Existing New 
Brand 
Product
Line Extension 
(Variants) 
Economic Times 
ET (English) 
Economic Times 
ET (Gujarati) 
Brand Extension 
ET NOW 
Multi Brands 
TOI 
Maharashtra Times 
Navbharat Times 
Economic Times 
Diversification 
Zoom 
Radio Mirchi 
Indiatimes.com 
Mirchi Movies 
Existing 
New 
Existing New 
Brand 
Product
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Multi Brand Strategy 
 A company launches multiple brands for the same product 
category 
 Each brand caters to a distinct market segment 
 Each brand has a distinct brand identity and personality
+ 
Advantages of multi brand strategy 
India’s premier M-school 
 A company can target the entire market with different brands 
catering to each separate market segment 
 A company can enjoy economies of scale because key 
ingredients / raw materials are the same for each product 
 A consumer gets wide range of options to choose from 
 A company is able to capture larger shelf space at retail end
India’s premier M-school 
+ 
Disadvantages of multi brand 
strategy 
 All brands may not be successful thus leading to wastage of 
marketing and advertising expenses. 
 The company may spread it self very thin if it launches too 
many brands with small market share for each brand 
 If there is no difference between two brands, one may 
cannibalize the other.