Royal merchandising

It began when the Palace issued a 'No photography' rule which applied to anyone visiting the Queen. This was meant to protect the Queen from any potential embarrassment, bad photo angle and excessive flashes. Instead a royal photographer was assigned to produce images of the family. Numerous requests to purchase these photos lead to an industry on it's own and the concept of merchandising began.

Needless to say, merchandising has grown enormously since then. It seems everyone and everything has a merchandising program. Kylie Minogue, J. Lo, and Nicky Hilton are but the tip of an iceberg where names own everything from underwear to perfume, watches to Chihuahua outfits. In the classic brand world, Ferrari exists as a camera, laptop or a LEGO set complete with a tire-changing team dressed in red. And if you happen to be a M&M's fan, Las Vegas is the place for you. They have a five-storey building housing a complete M&M's world complete with M&M's wallpaper, pillow covers, make-up sets, mugs, and the candy-coated little chocolates are always within an arm's reach.

Merchandising to the max! The question is how far can a brand stretch itself and still succeed. Can a racing car successfully extend its brand to a laptop? Are there limits? I would once have answered Yes, without hesitation. After all producing a Formula 1 motor car and a laptop may seem a very large leap. But they proved it could be done. As have Caterpillar, the manufacturers of huge earth-moving machinery and now shoes. It seems that brands can stretch to ridiculous limits so long as there's a sensory connection present.

And herein lies the secret of extension success. The deciding criteria for how far you should go - or which product category your brand should be extended to is not necessarily found in a category match like Colgate toothpaste, floss and toothbrushes. What's important is the way you can extend the sensory touch points of your product, creating synergies that work like a dream.

Back to the Ferrari anomaly. If you've seen the laptop, you'll never forget it. Who would have imagined a computing device being colored all three layers of patented Ferrari red? Motoring enthusiasts took to it with gusto. So much so that it took the Italian factory by surprise and it ran out of color in 2004 and had to stall production.

But it doesn't stop here. When you press the 'On' button, the start-up sounds revs into gear and sounds exactly like a Ferrari engine, providing the product with another touch point that never fails to thrill. It all adds up - each sensory touch point tying two such different product together helps justify a highly unusual brand extension, ultimately persuading us to assume the Ferrari laptop performance is extremely … well you've got it right?

Extending brands is no longer a matter of plastering the same logo on two different products. It's about finding, identifying, and developing strong sensory touch points which tie the product together and makes sense of the extension. The days where a rational synergy between the core product and its extension will ensure a success is no longer guaranteed. As brands have evolved, so has the consumer. Branding is more about buying into a lifestyle rather than a particular product category.

So next time you ponder how far to stretch your brand don't obsess over the relevance. Focus on the sensory ties, because it's these touch points that seem to be the major factor in creating emotional ties. And it's these emotional ties that will determine your success - or failure.