Brand Training, Direct-to-Consumer

McDonalds has a university — Hamburger U — to train its managers and employees. The Ritz Carlton has a leadership-training center to coach other people's managers and employees.

But what happens when you take your corporate know-how and extend it directly to consumers? That's what BMW is doing with its Performance Driving School, where professional BMW instructors will teach you how to drive safely and "maximize exhilaration behind the wheel." And Sephora, the cosmetics superstore, recently opened Sephora University, where consumers can learn beauty tips and techniques from the pros. As consultants, we hear a lot about the value of knowledge capital, and the importance of transferring that knowledge to the next generation of managers. But as BMW and Sephora are realizing, there's great value in transferring your knowledge directly to consumers, and delivering them a truly immersive way to interact with your brand.

Read the full Brandweek editorial here.

A Business Doing Pleasure

We’ve been paying a lot of attention to Playboy lately. Not because of the articles, mind you, but because of the sheer volume of new brand extensions in recent months. This fall, you can expect a Playboy men’s fragrance from Coty, as well as a new energy drink (think Red Bull in a red smoking jacket). And you can burn off that extra Playboy energy by hitting the slopes on a Playboy snowboard from Burton.

For a company that’s in the business of temptation, Playboy has clearly yielded to the lure of brand licensing – generating some $800 million annually. In our view, they should avoid over-stretching their iconic brand, and may be better served with fewer extensions like energy drinks far from the brand’s core values, and more fun extensions like Pool Party – a Playboy-branded mobile game depicting animated Playmates engaged in "pool-party sports" including pool-side water-balloon fights, water-slide slaloms, and aquatic mechanical bull-riding.

Shooting from the Hip-Hop

There’s nothing new about music celebrities extending their brands into categories like fragrance and fashion — think Britney, Beyoncé, and J-Lo. But we’re intrigued by a slew of recent brand extensions from pop, rock, and hip-hop performers that may strike a more discordant note. Check out Kanye Travel, the new travel Web site from Kanye West, that’s little more than a blinged-up Travelocity. A much savvier foray comes from Dr. Dre, who recently introduced Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones that retail at $400 and look as good as they claim to sound.

The most interesting musical extension we’ve seen recently comes from an unlikely source — Procter & Gamble. TAG body spray recently announced a joint venture with Island Def Jam Music Group. The TAG hip-hop label aims to strengthen the brand’s appeal to its urban, teen demographic and is expected to launch two new artists per year. Sounds smart to us.

Armani Taken to Court

The new EA7 Emporio Armani tennis racquet is out, available exclusively at Emporio Armani stores. For $345, you get "the perfect balance of fashion and performance" — with the Armani logo printed on the frame, naturally. We're familiar with tennis greats making the leap to fashion brand — think of Monsieur Lacoste, the Grand Slam winning tennis champion whose nickname was "The Crockodile." But can a fashion brand hurdle the net in the opposite direction? We don't associate Armani with performance in tennis or any other sport. If Armani does make you look good on court, it’s because they make cool-looking activewear, not because their sports equipment helps you raise your game. Seems like a questionable brand extension to us. What's next, Gucci hockey sticks?