Discovery set to put marketing weight behind brand extensions

Discovery Enterprises, the licensing and sales arm for the company behind the Discovery Channel, says 2012 will be the “roll out year” for the series of retail, publishing and travel brand extensions it has announced in recent months.

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The company is to begin putting significant marketing weight behind extensions such as its lifestyle retail brand Discovery Expedition and travel tour brand Discovery Adventures.

It is hoped the new brands will help increase viewing figures for Discovery’s portfolio of channels and also act as an additional revenue source.

The bulk of the marketing behind the brand extensions will run on Discovery’s own TV channels, websites, publications and social media assets. The company is also working with third parties, such as travel agents and trade shows, to extend the reach of the new brands beyond those people that watch its programmes.

Nicholas Bonard, senior vice president of Discovery Enterprises International, says: “There is of course a revenue component what we do at Discovery Enterprises but our core business is a channel business. Everything we do off TV must bring something back to the channel.”

Holiday brand Discovery Adventures soft launched in the UK last week and offers consumers tour-guided trips to destinations such as Vietnam, Nepal, Tanzania and Jordan.

Discovery is also set to launch US female lifestyle channel TLC internationally this year and will be partnering with relevant brands such as Oregon Scientific to help push its Explore Your World merchandise and publishing division, which is aimed at 9-to 12-year-old boys.

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