In an attempt to expand their market size and invigorate their brand, many firms take a shot at diversifying their brand. ‘Brand diversification’ commonly refers to a process of launching a new product in a new market, as seen in Ansoff’s Growth Matrix; examples of such strategy are the McCafe, Nike’s golfing collection, IBM’s business intelligence & analytics, and UberEATS.

Some cases are more extreme; for instance, Amazon Studios. Most people would agree that there is little connection between ecommerce and movie production.

Typically, firms choose to diversify to utilize their current brand equity, leverage current know-how, gain economies of scale, or simply to become its own supplier.
McCafe is an example of using current brand equity to gain success in another area. McDonald’s is known for its cheap prices, consistent quality, and efficient operations, all of which can be used in a café as well. Essentially, they’re just altering the menu items, while delivering the same experience.
IBM’s move into business intelligence and analytics is an example of a firm using its current know-how (and partially its brand equity, too) for obtaining success in a new market. IBM has delivered corporate technology for decades, and have proved to be quite good at what they do, which they then take into a new market — with great results.

#1: Stay True to Yourself
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