I'll Just Do The Hoovering While Listening To My Walkman

In Marketing lectures we were always told that having a range of products is better than having just one. When shopping, research suggests that customers like to have choice. It is part of the fun to choose which flavour, variety, shape or size of a particular product you would like to buy. There are brands that have sub-brands, that have sub-brands, that have a choice of colour, taste or style. If you look at the male deodorant shelf in any supermarket you will see what I mean.

Lynx are the king of spinning off variants, special editions and new smells. First there is deodorant or anti-perspirant. Then there is spray or roller-ball. A million different smells. Even after-shave varieties and "The Final Ever Edition" (which isn't really). The same applies to any UniLever brand really like Head & Shoulders. Or anything made by anyone really.

But the stand out exception to that rule has always been the iPhone. By having one name, one model and by not really advertising the fact you can get different memory capacities, this alone has made it stand out from the crowd. No "X26" version, no different names for each model (a quick glance at the HTC range shows how many different names can be very confusing, the list is endless!), no research needed. It's a nice easy choice, all the adverts have the same name with a product that looks very similar. Yet, now there are 3 models. The older 3GS, the old 4 and the new-ish 4S. There will be four later in the year (around August time seems to be a good guess) with the introduction of the iPhone5. Surely then, by offering a range of goods, Apple are slipping away from what made it stand out so much

Mini Paceman - A 4x4/Coupe. Erm, no?

Another example is the Kindle. By creating one product with one name, it becomes a buzz word. Very simple, very effective. Again though, there are up to 3 Kindles now available. An even better example is Mini. Now there is not just the Cooper or quicker Cooper S. First there was the cheaper One, followed by the First. Then diesel and recently Cooper S quick diesel. Or a 5-door estate come hatchback thingy entitled Clubman, the Convertible, the Roadster (two types of soft-top Mini, really?) the Coupe and of course, the 4x4 Countryman. It will get even worse of the next few years with a Paceman 4x4 Coupe and even a people carrier Mini! By filling every conceivable niche (some that I'm sure that are completely made up) there is also the worry of stretching the brand too far and ruining the allure in the first place.

However, the core appeal of having something with a singular name is still manages to be effective to both Kindles and iPhone's alike. This is nothing new of course. The once proud king of electronics, Sony, knocked every other brand into a cocked hat with the Walkman. Likewise Hover with the, erm Hoover.

But, the Walkman and the Hoover highlight the downside of such an approach. By trying to carve out a brand that epitomises the present, you stand at great risk of not being cool any more. It is very "in" to say you downloaded an app to your iPhone, played a game on your iPad, read a book on your Kindle, all on the way to buy a Jack Wills jumper. But fashion moves on, brands fade and new things become the latest must haves (Jack Wills, becoming a little chavvy already, just saying). There is a risk that they simply become something to remember a by gone era by.

Of course, I'm not saying that these brands and products are doomed and the world is going to end. Many brands pull through by re-inventing themselves. As much as I don't put the latest Coldplay album down as a classic, the band have reinvented themselves yet again to remain current and still oh-so popular. If anyone has the marketing chutzpah to pull it off, Apple does.