Surrogate vs Brand Extensions is perhaps one of the longest debate running over 3 decades! I recall being a part of the restricted sector industry teams that led the discussions on advertising bans for restricted categories such as tobacco products, cigarettes, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants. An outcome of this was the CTNR Act 1995 supported by CBFC, & CCPA, ASCI guidelines and over the years these have undergone changes however the qualification of brand extensions vs surrogates was defined 3 decades ago and remains constant.
Whilst there is much anticipation for the latest notifications to be issued by CCPA, it is a good idea to circle back with industry leaders, brand and marketing teams to take a meaningful look at Brand Extensions and work towards erasing the trust deficit with stakeholders for our industry with timely actions.
Surrogate and Brand Extensions are the same?
Surrogate is a substitute or a replace ment for someone or something and typically uses its parent’s genetic code, in marketing parlance surrogate is used as a replacement for restricted products and mimics the ‘mother brand’ which could be a restricted product as defined in CTNR Act 1995, other rules and guidelines. Brand extension starts with how is the existing brand perceived in the market? Does the brand have strong recognition, loyalty, and positive associations that may be leveraged for a successful extension? For the obvious reasons Surrogates usually have a short life span and the reasons for this is in the limited nature of its conceptualization. Brand extensions on the other hand have a vigorous starting point this in no way undermines that Brand extensions could have a shorter life too depending on market, intensity of competition so on and so forth. As your marketing and brand teams discuss brand extensions they need to answer: Is there a natural fit with the ‘Alco Brand’ and it’s name? Can the Brand Extension leverage the Alco Brand’ equity? Can a viable business be created in the new category? Can it be scaled? Should we have a single brand extension or multiple brand extensions? If it is multiple, do we launch the categories together or in a step-wise manner? The cloning approach of an alco brand’ restricts future extensions as the surrogate brand boxes itself for e.g. water, soda, glasses. Extending a surrogate into multiple categories will inflict the ‘alco brand’ with schizophrenia. A strong or a new ‘alco brand’ can be a springboard for limitless possibilities Form, Flavour, Companion, Vertical, Unrelated.
Measuring Outcomes is the KEY
Understandably Brand extensions require significant investments. and it is essential to track for a variety of outcomes such as launch metrics, modifications, and pivot. At Integrated Insights Consulting we have developed a proprietary research model with our partners that provide answers for e.g. on Net movement ‘post-pre’ for the brand health indica tors like salience, consideration, positive associations.
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Consulting Editor- Gopal Joshi
