The Branded Home

One of the oldest moneymaking tricks in the marketing book is the trusty brand extension—grabbing a successful name and slapping it on a new product in a different category. It’s not hard to see why brands do this. The deals are fairly simple (see sidebar, opposite) and the added revenue is pretty much gravy. When the extension works—as it did with Starbucks Latte ice cream and Mr. Clean Car Wash—it’s a thing of balance-sheet beauty.