Brand gender and cross-gender extensions
Résumé
In order to develop brands and increase growth, most luxury brands rely on extensions on different product categories. On top of that, the current trend is the cross-gender extensions (eg. Masculine watchmakers targeting female audience). The objective of this paper is to discuss the concept of brand gender and its potential influence in crossover extensions. More specifically, we intend to describe how female brands extend on the men market and vice versa. Using semiotic analysis, a qualitative research is performed on a sample of eight brands. The semiotic techniques allow to understand the deep meanings of their products, communication, web sites and narratives. The exploratory findings highlight the importance of brand consistency in terms of values while addressing both male and female segments. These findings, specific to luxury brands, provide support to the brand extension literature.