New Uses That Revitalize Old Brands.(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)

Generating new uses for mature brands creates strategic opportunities for increased usage of the brand among heavy-users or newly targeted segments. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 experienced brand managers and with 402 consumers who used old brands in new ways. The results focus on three key questions: (1) What new uses will revitalize an old brand?; (2) How do consumers learn of new uses for old brands?; and (3) How can new uses be most effectively communicated? Answering these questions enables one to craft a new usage campaign that increases both brand equity and sales.

NUMEROUS MATURE BRANDS have revitalized their sales by advertising new usage situations. Consider Arm & Hammer in 1969. Sales were dropping because of a decline in home-baking and the introduction of ready-to-bake packaged foods that already included baking soda. Revitalization was critical. Arm & Hammer responded by marketing the brand as a deodorizer for refrigerators, and sales skyrocketed. Clorox bleach is traditionally used for brightening clothes; however, surveys have discovered consumers using the brand all over the house from cleaning tiles and countertops to scrubbing windows and floors. Dannon yogurt, once viewed only as a stand-alone health food, is now seen on bakery mix packages as a substitute for high-fat eggs and oil in muffins, dips, and brownies.

Expansion advertising, promoting new uses for old brands, can increase sales by increasing usage frequency. Indeed, in some cases, it is considerably less expensive to increase the usage frequency of current users than it is to convert new users in a mature market (Wansink and Ray, 1996). Consider Table 1. By understanding how consumers learn about new uses for mature brands, marketers can become more effective at developing new uses and compellingly promoting these new uses to the most promising segments.

This research investigates three key questions: (1) What new uses will revitalize an old brand?; (2) How do consumers learn of new uses for old brands?; and (3) How can new uses be most effectively communicated? To answer these questions, in-depth interviews were conducted with 34 experienced brand managers and 402 adult consumers who used old brands in new ways. We found a "best practices" answer to the first question through the 34 brand managers, and we found a statistical answer to the second question through the 402 consumers. These findings are combined with existing research to generate expansion advertising tactics and marketing strategies that successfully answer the third question.

1. WHAT NEW USES WILL REVITALIZE OLD BRANDS?

To determine the new uses that revitalize old brands, 34 experienced packaged-goods managers were interviewed by phone. These were managers who had been identified by trade articles as innovators in expanding old brands into new usage situations. The interviews, ranging from 12 to 54 minutes, included questions concerning the methods used to generate new ideas, the procedures they used to screen these ideas, and the promotional activities they used to educate consumers about these new uses.

Procedures to generate and screen new uses for old brands