Leveraging Brand Equity: Bumble Bee

The December 4^th Brandweek has an interesting article about the Bumble Bee brand. Sales for companies in the canned tuna industry have been steadily decreasing as consumer concerns about the amount of mercury in their products increase. Even without this news, Bumble Bee’s sales have been flat. There is only so much a brand can do with canned tuna. However, the Bumble Bee brand has a tremendous amount of equity. It would be foolish for Bumble Bee to leave this equity sitting on the shelf, in which case consumers would forget about it, eventually causing it to fade away.

In January, Bumble Bee will leverage its brand equity in a new way by launching an industry first – premium, pre-cooked, marinated, shelf-stable chicken fillets in pouches. The idea of non-refrigerated, cooked chicken in a pouch is pretty unappealing to me, but there is apparently a market for this product. Bumble Bee hopes that consumers will be inclined to purchase this product due to their perception of Bumble as a leading brand. This brand bridge will only be successful if the product is good. If the product is not up to par, Bumble Bee runs the risk of ruining its brand equity, and thus losing sales in the already-established tuna category. Bumble Bee is a premium brand in its industry- each product launched must fit within that core meaning. Will chicken in a pouch succeed? How can it change the master brand?


Robert Cusumano