Resurgence in Brand Extension Strategy

The utilization of lifestyle brand extension as a growth strategy is becoming increasingly popular among companies.

Although some companies have failed to execute this strategy effectively in the past, more and more companies see success in extending their brand. A memorable example is Virgin, which attempted a lifestyle extension in the 1990s by entering the highly competitive wedding industry with Virgin Brides. Unfortunately, the brand extension failed to generate sufficient profits, leading to the closure of Virgin Brides in the early 2000s.

In contrast, lifestyle brands such as RH and Tommy Bahamas have successfully employed this strategy to boost revenue and profitability. The critical difference is that these brands strategically extend into areas relevant to their core. In this article, Tommy Bahama's CEO explains how this brand extension strategy has been effective for them, first with restaurants opening and now expanding into spas and resorts.  “Keeping customers engaged from 7 minutes online to several days at the resort.”

https://www.thestreet.com/retail/tommy-bahama-ceo-doug-wood-new-resort