Do your plans match the brand image?

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To be clear, we are talking about an existing brand here. An established name that consumers have formed a clear image of over the years. In the consumer's mind, a network has developed around the brand, as it were. A tangle of direct and indirect connections between associations that are triggered when you come into contact with the brand. This association network forms the DNA of your brand.

Associations
An association can be anything: a logo, a colour, a scent, a product property, a character trait, a feeling, etc. The associations that are most strongly connected to the brand and most decisive for the brand image form the core of the brand association network. For example, the brand name Nike is redundant if there is a swoosh on your running outfit, the bonus card is inextricably linked to Albert Heijn and the Consumers' Association is still the most reliable party when it comes to product reviews.

Even if a brand's advertising is noticed, it can't work unless it refreshes or creates useful memory structures for the brand. This requires understanding what consumers already have in their minds and then working with it, not against it. – Byron Sharp


Back to the new plans. To what extent do the products or services you want to introduce fit in with the current brand image? Is there a clear link with the existing image? You don't want to us phone number list alienate consumers by straying too far from your core values. These have been carefully built over the years and are far too valuable to simply throw overboard.

In 2015, TomTom tried to storm the action cam market with the Bandit. That was without a doubt a step too far from the existing brand image. TomTom not only had to deal with tough competitors like GoPro, but also had a step behind in terms of credibility. Is a navigation specialist even capable of developing a decent camera?




Then the collaboration between Robijn and Zwitsal makes a lot more sense in light of brand associations. By using the core association of Zwitsal, namely the unique Zwitsal scent, and that of Robijn, wonderfully smelling laundry, the Robijn detergent with Zwitsal scent is a match made in heaven .

Don't mess with the DNA of your brand!
Perhaps TomTom was too early with the introduction of Bandit. It would have been wiser to first build a bridge with the help of a more subtle product extension, for example a dashboard cam that at least has a link with cars. Perhaps the consumer would have been ready for an action cam in a few years.