Launching a new product is never easy.

But launching a new product in an entirely new category is a different feat.

There is always the question of core brand stretch - can you take your existing brand into unfamiliar territory? How do you do it?

Well, today, I’m focusing on the overlooked approach of endorsed brands in an episode I’m calling…

I think an endorsed brand is a great approach.

You can leverage the equity of your existing brand, but break all your design rules and come up with a completely different brand identity to suit the new category.

I’m gonna give you a bit more context with examples, then explain why I think this works so well.

8 examples of best-in-class endorsed brand architecture executions

Pushing price points in laundry liquid

OK I’m starting with an example that’s close to home here - but I know this strategy well because I implemented it myself.

The flagship brand Earth Choice had something like 80% prompted brand awareness, but was limited by a broad product offering with price points starting at $2.40 per litre, against a category average of $6-8ish per litre.

Instead of wallowing in our cheap and cheerful brand position, we leveraged the equity to create a more premium product.

The core brand couldn’t stretch to $8 per litre price points, but ‘Undo This Mess’ did!

Craft beer and a rapidly growing sub-category

The Fizzer brand by craft brewer Moon Dog is an excellent example of leverage here.

Rather than starting completely fresh, simply retaining the minor endorsement by Moon Dog gives the new brand Fizzer an element of familiarity and credibility.

An edge that helps not only with the consumer but also with trade and on-premise partners.

20 years of success proves the point

When Mars launched the Pods brand in 2004, they wanted to tap into the convenience and sharing trend in snacking.

They were creating something entirely new - a unique and versatile snack in a new format.

Instead of simply launching as its own line, they leverage their portfolio of brands like Mars, Snickers and Twix to create familiar favourites in this strange new format.

Pods is a standalone brand - but the endorsement of Mars goes a long way to encourage trial and adoption of this innovation.

A portfolio approach to emerging segments

Remedy Drinks leverage this approach with their flagship brand, Remedy.

The successful launch of Sodaly as a ‘better-for-you soft drink demonstrates the power of this approach.

Remedy was a successful brand in Kombucha, but the live cultured drink isn’t for everyone.

By creating a new name and new identity for Sodaly, they clearly separate it from Kombucha, whilst still leveraging the familiarity of the Remedy brand.

A brand within a brand within a brand

Nestle owns Uncle Tobys.

But unlike KitKat or Nesquick, it doesn’t feature their prominent corporate branding.

This allows Uncle Tobys to step into other products and endorse brands like Fruity Bites. It’s a standalone brand from an identity perspective, but the Uncle Tobys badge gives it a boost of trust for families.

Bite-sized solutions with Peckish

Peckables is a fun move.

The brand breaks away from the core positioning of the crackers range to introduce new flavours, colours and attitude.

Some core elements like the master brand colour and the name leverage the equity of Peckish, but open up the brand guidelines to suit the different snack occasion of share boxes.

It works for Internet dog food too

Scratch is primarily an e-commerce, subscription based dog food business.

They’ve been laser focused on their position around healthy dry food but have recently launched “Raw”, an endorsed brand with a different position in the wet food segment.

Why the endorsed brand approach works so well

I think this approach is overlooked because people get worried about “detracting” from the master brand.

But I honestly don’t believe that’s a valid concern.

For most brands, you’d be considered incredibly lucky if consumers were carrying around complex and intricate ideas about what your brand “means”.

People simply don’t think that much about most the brands in their lives and the idea that stretching into a new category with an endorsement will dilute the overall equity of the brand seems like nonsense to me.

The ‘mere exposure’ effect

The mere exposure effect is all about familiarity breeding preference.

Basically, the more people see something, the more they start to like it, even if they didn’t care for it at first.

It’s why brands repeat the same ads or logos—they’re training your brain to feel comfortable with them. Over time, what feels familiar often becomes what feels right.

Simply having a familiar logo alongside a new logo can help drive mainstream adoption of the product.

The halo effect

The halo effect is when one good trait makes everything else seem better.

If you like one thing about a person, product, or brand, you start assuming the rest is great too. It's why a slick logo or positive review can make people overlook flaws.

Basically, first impressions cast a long shadow, shaping how everything else is seen.

This works with endorsement because if people already have a positive feeling about a brand, it transfers nicely to the endorsed brand.

And the fun part is that it works both ways.

Resource scarcity & streamlining

It doesn’t matter if you are the multibillion Mars business or your starting out - every company has some level of resource challenges.

Whether that’s people, budget or simply time - every marketing team needs to squeeze more juice from the lemon.

The endorsed brand approach helps. You can run them under the same website, same social handles and same email database without needing to start from scratch.

I’d love to hear from you.

What do you think of this approach? Have you used it? Do you have any other great examples. Reply to this email and let me know!

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