A semiotic analysis of the extendibility of luxury brands

Nathalie Veg-Sala (1, 2) , Elyette Roux (3)

1 CEROS - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Organisations et la Stratégie
2 UPN - Université Paris Nanterre
3 AMU IAE - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Aix-en-Provence

Purpose – Considering a long-term perspective and the discourse directly emitted by brands, the aim is to study how can brand extension potential be predicted through the analysis of brand contracts? Design/methodology/approach – Considering a long-term perspective and the discourse directly emitted by brands, the aim is to study how can brand extension potential be predicted through the analysis of brand contracts? Findings – Three groups of brands are identified: brands anchored in both determination and mastery contracts defined as open (high extendibility); brands anchored in a determination contract defined as open, as well as in a mastery contract defined as closed (low extendibility); brands anchored in a mastery contract defined as open as well as in a determination contract defined as not closed (high extendibility, but risks of diluting the brand value). Research limitations/implications – Compared with extensions actually developed by these brands, the results are discussed and strategies are proposed to maximize the long-term brand development when the brand extension potential is low. Only studied on products, it would be interesting to complete this analysis in services. Originality/value – The main contribution is the focus on brand narratives and contracts to predict the brand extensibility of luxury brands. Structural semiotics provides another original insight.

Mots clés: Brand narratives and contracts; Luxury; Semiotics; Brand extendibility; Brand extension potential

Domaines: Gestion et management

Nathalie Veg-Sala, Elyette Roux. A semiotic analysis of the extendibility of luxury brands. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 2014, 23, pp.103 - 113. ⟨10.1177/076737019501000202⟩. ⟨hal-01525472⟩