Can advertisements for brand extensions revitalise flagship products? An experiment

Previous research on brand extension has been much concerned with the potentially negative backfire effects of unsuccessful extensions. The present research focuses on the upward potential of positive transfer effects from successful extensions. Of special interest is positive transfer effects on flagship products, these being the products most closely related to the brand name in consumer memory. Whereas the branding literature indicates that brand extension could be a viable strategy for brands in need of revitalisation, little is known about the effect of extensions on flagship products. The study object was a real flagship product in the soft-drink category with serious image problems. Transfer effects on this flagship were studied from ads displaying either line extensions (new products in the same category) or concept extensions (new products in a new category). All extensions were profiled in such a way as to signal a more updated and favourable image than that of the flagship product. Transfer effects on the image of the flagship were measured immediately after exposure to extension advertisements and again one week later. Immediately after exposure, both line and concept extensions had positive effects on the image of the flagship product. The positive effect of concept extensions remained even after one week. When combined with previous research, the present findings suggest that ads for concept extensions have greater upward potential in terms of positive transfer effects and less downward risk in terms of dilution, than ads for line extensions.