Brand extensions

Brand extensions is a common phenomenon in the marketing world and is where a company uses a well established brand name in a different product category. According to the text book definition from Wikipedia, companies use this strategy to increase and leverage the brand equity (definition: the net worth and long-term sustainability just from the renowned name). There are many examples of brand extensions and I just read about about how Victorinox, the Swiss company of the army pocket knife will now start to produce coats, jackets, sweaters and trousers. Relying on what the Victorinox brand stands for: quality, reliability remains to be seen if they expressed in the fashion sense and products.