Brand Leveraging Strategy of Coca-Cola for Dasani

BRAND EQUITY LEVERAGING ASSIGNMENT
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Brand extension as a method of marketing relatively new products to the market is an effective strategy. It is visible in many products that are in the market today. Recently, I went through Walmart in Fairmont Virginia to understand some of the way corporations and companies have been using this strategy. Though I came across several companies using this marketing approach, Dasani was the most appropriate product I sought to use to understand the brand extension marketing approach.
1 The Brand and Product Description
Coca-Cola is one of the most famous brands in the world and it is understandable that the company can use the strength of its brand name to leverage other products.
The product is bottled tap water. The brand name is Dasani. Coca-Cola is the superior brand that was incepted over a century ago and it has been operational since. Coca-Cola introduced the Dasani brand in 1999 to compete against PepsiCo’s Aquafina brand. Dasani as a brand is owned and licensed by Coca-Cola and it is meant to specifically be for bottled water. At the core level, Dasani is unlike anything Coca-Cola is known for and hence it was a new product that rode on the back of the Coca-Cola brand. At the moment it has penetrated the market and it is considering doing very well.
When Coca-Cola introduced the bottled water product and branded it Dasani, it ensured that it is stocked alongside other Coca-Cola products. Thus, Dasani is stocked in Coca-Cola fridges alongside other Coca-Cola products such as sprite, Fanta Coca-Cola soft drinks. The company also ensured that the labeling of the Dasani bottle featured that it was manufactured by the Coca-Cola group.
2 The original product associated with the brand name
The company is known as a manufacturer of soft drinks. The company has dominated the soft drinks market for decades and it continues to market and brand itself aggressively even in areas where the brand is well known. The product that is leveraged in this case is Dasani. It is riding on the success and market strength of the Coca-Cola brand. Dasani bottles are labeled as products of Coca-Cola and they are bottled by Coca-Cola. The fizzling soft drinks by the Coca-Cola company come in different flavors and under different brands. However, the leading product by sales is the Coca-Cola drink which is the parent product by the company.
3 Type of brand leveraging strategy
The type of brand leveraging strategy employed in the afore-described product is a brand extension or brand stretching. Brand extension or brand stretching is the use of an established brand name for a new product or new product category. Dasani brand is leveraged on the Coca-Cola brand. Dasani is a relatively new entrant in the market compared to Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has been around since 1883 and it was operational for more than hundred years before the Dasani brand was incepted. Coca-Cola is also the company name. Coca-Cola Company is a legal entity that owns the brand Coca-Cola and its products and through its business operations it produces, distributed and licenses those products. Coca-Cola is not only a company name but also a registered trademark. It is therefo...