Art and Branding (pt. 2): art at the service of line extension in brands

By brand line extension is meant the possibility of a brand, strong in one category, to be able to commercially embrace further categories in different sectors. An example can be a high fashion brand that creates perfumes (Armani, for example), or an automotive company that produces clothes or watches (Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW) or a dairy product company that produces sauces, as in the case of Barilla. Managers believe that using existing brands for new products represents an acceleration, so much so that it is estimated that 80% of new products come from line extensions (B. Kanner in Growing Pains—and Gains: Brand Names Branch Out). In truth, line extensions are very insidious for brands. Those with a strong brand might imagine a certain ease in using it also for totally different product categories. This hypothesis is by no means a given. Al Ries (The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing) argues that brands should refrain from making line extensions, as in each category consumers accept no more than two leaders and typically a leader in one category cannot also be a leader in a completely different category. A well-known brand that failed in line extensions is Coca-Cola, failing to dislodge RedBull, for example, in the energy drink segment. Coca-Cola prefers to have Fanta for orange soda, rather than Coca-Cola Orange. Using a well-known brand for different categories is by no means a given.

In our journey to understand the relationship between visual art and branding theory, we want to investigate how art can help a brand carry out line extensions. Research in this sector is not extensive, but it is certainly worth highlighting the work of researchers Henrik Hagtvedt and Vanessa M. Patrick (from the marketing department of the University of Georgia, USA) who, in their 2008 paper Art and the brand: The role of visual art in enhancing brand extendibility, address this issue with great attention. The focal point on which the two researchers base their work is that it is not the new product or the new category that must attract marketing efforts in order to gain a new positioning in the minds of consumers. If Tommy Hilfiger wants to create technical running shoes, before working to make the new product perceived as authoritative in its specific segment, he should first work on the brand's authority and the cognitive flexibility of his audience.

David LaChapelle for Mercedes Maybach

Line extension requires brands that have characteristics of style, quality, and reputation, all characteristics that are rarely associated with a single product. Before carrying out a line extension, a brand must ensure that there is a cognitive adherence between the consumer and the brand itself. Researchers have shown that visual art has two fundamental characteristics for achieving this adherence. Firstly, art is associated with excellence, prestige, quality, and everything associated with the wealthier classes. Art is cultural tradition, therefore it instills security and connection with the temporal aspect, contributing to reducing anxiety towards novelty. As a second effect, art promotes cognitive flexibility. If a brand is more associated with art, or if art is one of the properties recognized in the brand, the consumer is more willing to use their cognition to welcome new directions and novelties.

Kenny Scharf Absolut Vodka 1987

No less important is the study by Michael Barone and others which demonstrates how a positive consumer attitude facilitates their decision to accept products from new lines of brands they cherish (The Influence of Positive Mood on Brand Extension Evaluations). They demonstrate (hypothesis H3 of the paper) how a positive consumer attitude leads them to perceive the brand as certainly competent to create the new line. One aspect that deserves to be explored is whether art should enter the brand's storytelling continuously, as in the case of Absolut Vodka (Absolut book: the Absolut Vodka story, Richard Lewis, 1996), or for specific launches (such as the Maybach and David Lachapelle project presented in Milan in April 2024). Art can therefore be used by brands to expand the cognition of the brand itself towards greater value, cognitive flexibility, and association with positive attitudes. Researchers are unable to identify in detail the reasons why this happens (see the Mozart effect), one hypothesis is the use of art as a pre-linguistic communication tool in prehistory.

Yayoi Kusama for Louis Vuitton

To this end, however, it is worth mentioning another relevant study that can provide basic elements, namely the work of Annamma Joy and John F. Sherry (Speaking of Art as Embodied Imagination: A Multisensory Approach to Understanding Aesthetic Experience, in Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2003). The article argues that physical experience in the fruition process plays a fundamental role in how individuals perceive and appreciate art, which can be understood at two levels: the phenomenological level, where people are aware of their sensations and actions, and the cognitive unconscious level, where the body's sensorimotor mechanisms influence abstract thought and reasoning. In essence, the authors propose that the appreciation of art can be analyzed through phenomenological experiences (conscious awareness of sensations and actions) and cognitive unconscious processes (underlying bodily mechanisms that influence abstract thought). The use of art for brands is therefore not just a cognitive association, but rather must also include a physical experience. Louis Vuitton, in its recent collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, transformed its retail spaces into immersive environments for artistic enjoyment. The products were part of an artistic curation.

The first part of these reflections on Art and Brand was published here: Art, branding and brand performance (pt. 1)