Whether it was Sunlight moving on to a synthetic detergent from an oil-based soap more than a decade back or the Lifebuoy Gold and Nirma experiments of today, there seem to be certain rules that lead to a successful brand extension. The brand managers of the day, who are anyway kept on their toes by the consumer, would always benefit from some expertspeak -- especially from men who have seen it all.

Marketing consultant and former chief executive and one of the founders of Clarion, Subroto Sengupta spoke to The Financial Express about brand extensions.

According to him, there are three conditions that have to be met if a brand is to be extended with any degree of success.

The first revolves around the "fit" of the brand with relation to the new category. How far a brand can bestretched to accommodate the new product within its definition. There must be no contradiction between what the brand stands for currently and its new position.

For example, a successful brand like Maggi which signifies convenient, tasty food may not be extendable to gourmet foods. Or can you extend a brand like Khaitan to biscuits?

Secondly, the core values of the mother brand and the extensions must be identical or very close. The Dettol brand name, for example, has been successfully extended to a germ cleaning soap -- but can it be extended to a luxury soap or a cosmetic product?

Finally, there must accrue some competitive advantage in the new segment due to the extension. The lack of such a competitive advantage perhaps explains why Glaxo's "Tender Talc" baby talcum powder fared badly in the market place. Wipro, on the other hand, fared much better against Johnson & Johnson as its products cater to price sensitive consumers.

Discontinuity between the mother brand and its extension is not anabsolute "no", especially if there is a technology leap. Sengupta says, "For a progression from the slide rule to the calculator and from the typewriter to the word processor -- I see no reason why companies should not be able to do this and succeed, using the same brand name."

"Casio, for instance, can definitely extend its equity to all things that have something to do with electronic calculation. This is especially true for durable products. But even for detergents, Sunlight moving from the oil-based cake to the synthetic detergent powder was a technology leap too. You cannot expect companies not to try to to make this leap. If they do not try, or fail, they run the risk of becoming obsolete," he says.

Sengupta feels that there is no way the brand managers or the companies can rest on their laurels after creating a successful brand that has captured the imagination of the customers. He says, "Existing brands cannot be expected to stand still and continue to do well over time. Companies have tocontinually try to upgrade their offering, otherwise they will be left behind. Moreover, this is the only way the companies can keep abreast and successfully address emerging market trends."

"You have to keep spotting emerging market trends and going back to the drawing board. The smart marketeer always anticipates market needs and then creates the demands," Sengupta adds.

"An emerging trend in the Indian automobile market is the diesel version of the passenger car. People are buying a diesel car for their personal use, a trend that did not exist a few years back. It is a trend emerging in India due to the huge difference in the prices of petrol and diesel in the country. Several car manufacturers are ready to cash in on it," Sengupta points out.

So, do new offerings from an existing brand stable have it relatively easy in the market? "Subjectively, I think with an established brand name you can enter a segment and carve out a niche for yourself far easily than with a new product," feelsSengupta.

"However," he adds, "I do not think the assurance provided by an established company cuts much ice with the consumer if a match in core values and perceived core competencies is missing."

"Here it can be mentioned that often corporate brand names like Tata, Bajaj or even Maruti have a greater elasticity than product brand names," he adds.

"The smart entrepreneur is more often right than wrong. Besides, he can always ratify his hunches through detailed consumer testing," Sengupta says.

"What should be taken into account is the objective of the extension. If a particular extension is meant to round off a line of products, a company may not be looking at generation of huge profits out of the same. Many liquor companies for instance seek to provide their consumers with tonic water, mineral water variants or even ice buckets, cocktail stirrers or cocktail snacks. These can be explained as attempts to make the purchase more convenient for the customer," says Sengupta.

Explaining whatinduces a customer to go for an extension product, Sengupta says, "When consumers buy an extension they buy into a trusted name and consequently associations of trust, dependability and quality. All brand extensions have to, therefore, satisfy tangible consumer needs otherwise there is always a chance of negative rub-off onto the mother brand. The mother brand and the extensions have to be complementary to succeed."

So how far can extensions go? "I think there is an optimum range, but I do not think the same applies to corporate brands. In the case of corporate brands the boundaries are laid by a company's perceived core competence. As long as the extensions are true to this there is no problem. The same applies to product brands to some degree. The boundaries here are further laid down by the personality of the brand, core competence and areas in which the brand can leverage a distinct advantage over its competitors," he concludes.