Sometimes a Product Line is Just what You Need

There are times when creating product lines (instead of individually branded and positioned products) is a good idea, and will even help your products succeed. Create a product line if:

1. You’re not expecting (or hoping) your single product will dominate the market.
2. You’re entering your product into a crowded field of other similar products.
3. You’re launching a new product with a small budget.
4. Your product will predominately be sold by sales reps.

If you’re developing a breakthrough product or one that will be first into a new category, always give that product a unique name. Don’t turn it into an extension of your brand or other products. Example: Tesla didn’t name it’s space program Tesla Space, they named it SpaceX.

In the short term, line extension has some advantages.

— Al Ries & Jack Trout

Read more from Ries & Trout about the pros and cons of product lines their book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.

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Ries, Al, and Jack Trout. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986. Print.