Winchester Ammunition stopped making guns in 1981, long before Congress and plaintiffs’ lawyers started shooting blanks at the industry. Winchester, afraid there wasn’t much future in bullets, decided to leverage its name and image instead. Starting in 1993, the company began putting its name on knives, pepper spray and dog beds — any product that could benefit from Winchester’s logo.
Winchester did not embark on this crusade by itself. The company hired Leveraged Marketing Corporation of America (LMCA), a New York-based firm that helps companies “extend” their brands. Brand extension is the practice of licensing a brand into a related market, as a way for the licensor to collect revenue and gain recognition and for the licensee to gain credibility. For example, Godiva and Starbucks don’t actually make their own ice creams — Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc., does under license. But bullets and coffee beans present two different challenges. “We wanted [Winchester] to become more than a gun and ammunition company, to grow into new industries not affected by antigun legislation in a way that nourished the brand,” says Allan Feldman, president of LMCA.
