Your brand is built for who you were. Not for what's coming.

A new product, a new service or a new market asks more than your existing brand can carry. We determine how the new thing relates to who you already are, and how your story travels to an audience that doesn't know you yet.

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A new product or a new market asks something of your brand it wasn't designed for. That raises two questions at once. Does the new thing get its own name or does it fall under your brand? And how do you convince an audience that doesn't know you yet, without the network you've leaned on until now? We answer both, so the new thing builds on what you're already worth.

Sounds familiar?


This is what we hear at the table with companies that add something. Sometimes it's a new product, sometimes a new market, often both at once.

Whatever you add, the question is always how it relates to who you already are.

Sounds familiar?


This is what we hear at the table with companies that add something. Sometimes it's a new product, sometimes a new market, often both at once.

Whatever you add, the question is always how it relates to who you already are.

"We're launching a new product and don't know how to position it next to our existing brand."

"We now have three names in the market and no one understands how they connect."

"In the Netherlands they know us. In Germany we're nobody."

"We can't rely on our network in a new market."

"Too much of our revenue depends on one client. We need to broaden."

We'll explain

Two directions

What you add determines which question you need to answer, and usually both apply. If you add a product or service, it's a question of architecture: does it belong under your brand or does it get its own name? If you enter a new market or region, it's a question of reach: does your brand travel to people who don't know you yet?

They ask for a different answer. That's why we tackle them separately.

The architecture question: under your brand or its own name?

The answer depends on fit. If the new thing sits close to what you're known for, your brand lifts it up and they strengthen each other. If it sits far from that, it confuses your customers and dilutes both. A separate name isn't a defeat then, but protection. Research confirms it: a brand extension succeeds mainly when the customer finds the link logical and sees your parent brand as strong (Aaker & Keller, Journal of Marketing).

Between those extremes lies a whole spectrum, from one brand that carries everything to independent names under one owner. Where you land is a strategic choice, not a matter of taste or of who wants the launch loudest. (More on the types of brand architecture: see the page on brand architecture)

The reach question: does your brand travel with you?

Your brand grew big in your home market, on years of personal introductions and word of mouth. Those don't travel with you.

In a market where no one knows you, the director's handshake disappears. Then the story has to do it alone, with people who have never seen you and often aren't even looking yet. That requires a brand that builds trust on its own, instead of borrowing it from those who already know you.

Often there's a deeper reason underneath: too much revenue from one client or one market. In Brainport, suppliers saw their revenue dependency on ASML rise from an average of 29% to 39%. Diversifying requires a brand that works outside the relationship that carried everything until now. (Regional figure, for illustration.) (More on this: the page on a brand that travels to a new market)

What's at stake

If you don't make those choices consciously, the expansion doesn't pay for itself. The numbers are hard: roughly eight out of ten brand extensions don't make it, and the deciding factor is always fit (Aaker & Keller). A product without fit dilutes your brand, and a new market on a brand that wasn't made for it starts out invisible.

The brand you've already built is your biggest advantage in everything you add, provided you use it deliberately. If you don't, you squander that exact advantage at the moment you need it most.

How Stuurmen approaches this

We start with who you already are, because the new must build on that, not stand beside it. We go into the organisation and look at what your brand is worth in the eyes of your current customers, and how much of that travels to the new audience.

From that we determine two things: the architecture (does the new thing get its own name or does it fall under your brand) and the story that works for people who don't know you yet. That's what we call Shift the perspective. This way, the new thing becomes an extension of your position, instead of a separate adventure that dilutes your brand.

Laptop shows the renewed ZZDP website in a calm interior with a table lamp.

Clients on their journey with Stuurmen

Abstraction Sign Outside Street Signage Design Brading Stuurmen

"Stuurmen was able to analyse and present my own company to me in a way I previously thought was impossible."

Owner of Abstraction
Ralph EgasCEO Abstraction

"Building a website for architects? That means endless fine-tuning and always someone who thinks it could be even better. Luckily Stuurmen stayed sharp and patient, and turned it into a true one of one!"

Julia Beekmans
Julia BeekmansZZDP

"Stuurmen is a unique branding agency where premium services and complete business strategies go hand in hand. The direct lines and great communication with Stuurmen create an ideal collaboration in which every wish becomes reality. They do what they promise, always think along with the client, and rise above the competition."

Marc Kroon
Marc KroonMarc Kroon Wijn
Visual van de about page op de website

"The Stuurmen team knows better than anyone how to translate a brand from paper into a beautiful, tangible result. A valuable collaboration in which personal attention and creative thinking take center stage."

Josephine Warnaars
Josephine WarnaarsMarketing & communications
Spoiler branding sticker logo green racing Triple Crown Stuurmen

"We've had great experiences with Stuurmen developing our new branding and accompanying website!"

Constantijn Reiziger
Constantijn ReizigerTriple&Crown
iPhone hand holding app mobile design web responsive Stuurmen Hyer

"Stuurmen has perfectly captured Hyer®'s brand identity. The website radiates professionalism and modernity, exactly what we had in mind. We still get a lot of compliments on it. A result that exceeded our expectations."

Max van Doorne
Max van DoorneHyer®

Cases that show this

Marc Kroon Wijn
Marc Kroon WijnA first-class rebrand and an award-winning website
Strategy
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TWOFIFTYK
TWOFIFTYKFrom execution partner to headliner
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Merel Kooning
Merel KooningRoom to grow
Strategy
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Insights on brand architecture

Time for more?

Portrait of Stijn, Owner of Stuurmen

Ready to let the new build on who you already are?

Book a call with Stijn. Together we'll look at how the new thing relates to your brand and your market.

Frequently asked questions

That depends on how far it stands from what you do now and on who needs to buy it. If it's close to your core, it strengthens things under your brand. If it targets a completely different audience, a separate name can actually help. The choice should come from strategy, not from enthusiasm about the launch.

Because your existing brand is built on relationships and recognition in your current market. In a new market or region, no one knows you, and the personal introduction disappears. There, the story has to do it alone, and that requires a brand that speaks for itself.

That's called brand architecture, and at most companies it's history rather than a choice. We sort out what deserves its own name, what falls under a parent brand and what can disappear, so customers understand again how everything connects.

Before you launch or enter the new market, not after. The positioning of the new thing determines how you bring it to market. Adjusting afterwards costs more and is visible to your customers.