The Dangers of Creating a Lifestyle Brand

Lifestyle brands are the celebrities of the consumer product world. People recognize the names, the logos and what each one stands for. Think Martha Stewart, Apple, Ralph Lauren, Nike and Harley-Davidson. These big names fulfill the core promise of a lifestyle brand: They give people a way to express themselves.

Sounds good, right? But is it all as perfect as it seems? Before you push too hard to earn lifestyle brand status, consider the findings of a study from the Kellogg School of Management called “Competing for Consumer Identity: Limits to Self-Expression and the Perils of Lifestyle Branding.”

For us, the key takeaway is this: Consumers have a limited need for self-expression just as they have a limited need for, say, paper towels. And this means lifestyle brands compete against almost anything that lets people express themselves. Just a couple telling points from the study:

You’re Competing with Brands Outside Your Category
Being a lifestyle brand opens you up to a much bigger pool of competitors, including products outside your category. Buying Martha Stewart dinnerware might make shoppers feel stylish and put together, but a new Coach purse may offer a similar sense of self-expression.

You’re Competing with Social Media and Other Outlets for Self-Expression
Brands aren’t the only way people express themselves, so lifestyle brands may find themselves up against a range of non-brand competitors. Facebook, Twitter, blogs and YouTube make it easier than ever for people to communicate who they are to the world and themselves. The study even noted that favorite TV shows or books can cause what researchers termed “identity saturation.”

The bottom line: We don’t think every brand should shoot for superstar lifestyle status. Some brands might find more success by leveraging a core quality to extend into additional product categories. For more on how to do just that, read our 10 Ways to Extend Your Brand.