Why Disney Keeps Its Name Off of its Sexy Movies

One of the most important, and hotly contested, questions marketers face is whether to include an image of the company in the product brand.

In their classic book, Positioning the Battle for your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout suggest that if the image of the product is separated from the image of the company, there will be greater success because the product will have its own identity and sell more. Unfortunately, their model does not explain the success of products such as Diet Coke, Microsoft Office, and the iPod, all of which incorporated the company brand (either through logo, name or slogan) into the product image. This suggests a more sophisticated model that companies can employ to create blockbusters.

When to Include the Brand

If the company has a good reputation for making the type of product it is introducing, then including the logo or name will lift sales. For example, when IBM introduced the IBM PC in the early 1980's, it was an immediate success because IBM was considered "the computer company." It validated microcomputers and took business away from many of the other brands that were in the microcomputer business since the mid 1970s. For those that already have a positive relationship with the corporate brand, the corporate stamp validates the product and gives comfort to buyers.

When to Separate the Images

There are three major circumstances when a company should not include the company image in the product brand:

1. The company has a damaged Image or risky product. Disney uses the corporate brand only on entertainment that is deemed wholesome for kids. For entertainment that has sexual, violent, or other potentially objectionable content, the company has created separate brands, such as Touchstone, Hollywood, or Miramax. In 1988, when Consumer Reports said that the Suzuki Samurai tipped over when taking turns, the negative fallout caused sales of all Suzuki models to decline from roughly 81,349 units to 21,389 units the following year in the US because there was no image separation.
2. Company is too closely identified with a product different from the one being introduced. IBM is known as the computer company, and in the 1970's they made an excellent copy machine that many thought was better than competitors, but it did not sell because people associate IBM with computers - not copiers. Xerox developed a good computer in the 1980's but it did not sell because Xerox is known as the copier company. Both may have been successful, if they launched these products under a separate brand identity.
3. There is a "lock and key" mismatch. If the target audience has an established image of a company's products that conflicts with new products the company wants to introduce, the company should create new brand identities for these products. When baby boomers were young, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, were associated with small, affordable, and fuel-efficient cars. But as they aged, and became more affluent, many of these boomers wanted luxury cars. The Japanese automakers knew they had to create new product images, separate and apart from the original ones, so they created Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti for these evolved segments.

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