Money buys class, but not exclusivity

One of the major, modern headaches of ambitious brand owners is how far to take the brand. Pressure on revenue says roll out the brand into new territories (or categories); protecting what you have says don’t dilute the magic.

Starbucks is in the middle of such a headache, Fast Moving Consumer Goods giants such as Unilever and Proctor & Gamble face it every day. Right now, the Louvre, icon of France and Paris’ star museum, must be having its own internal wrangle.
The museum inked the latest stage in its deal to open a Louvre Abu Dhabi. There are $525m-worth of good reasons why France-Museums made the 30-year deal; the question now is how far do they take this roll out? Can we expect Louvre Rio, Louvre Cape Town or Louvre Auckland?
This matter because there is cachet to exclusivity. If Abu Dhabi can’t spend years creating its own world class museum, it would be nice if it at least acquired the exclusive rights to one of the best. Knowing it was one of four cities hosting a ‘Louvre Lite’ is a different proposition, particulary for its tourism marketing.
The danger for the Abu Dhabi, spending big money to acquire the rights to established formats, is that it signals the brands can be bought for cash. The brand owners may not always want to sell, buy they have advertised the fact they have a price. Building your own brands, however lengthy the process, may be the better option.