Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of how voters view the political brand by analysing the mental maps that voters create when asked to think about a political party. The analysis is both in terms of the nature of the maps and also in terms of the equity associated with a map. Design/methodology/approach -A consumer-oriented approach is developed for mapping the political brand. The brand maps are analysed to discern brand characteristics. Furthermore, methods are developed to assess the power of political brands and concomitantly, political brand equity. Findings -The method provides interesting insights into the nature and equity of brand associations for the two main political protagonists, i.e. Conservative and Labour. Key branded characteristics are highlighted for each party, both in terms of general structure, and also those associations that form a central role in voters' maps. For the partisan sample chosen, both parties are shown to have strong brand equity, with the Conservatives slightly stronger than Labour. Practical implications -The method is straightforward to apply and provides important information to political marketers about the nature and power of the associations held in memory by voters. Taking a wider stance, the approach can be applied to any branding situation. Originality/value -This paper provides a means by which a brand mapping process, new to politics, can be combined with methods facilitating the analysis of brand maps to produce a means by which brand equity can be measured.

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Extensions as forms of new product development strategy have been discussed to a great extent during the last decade, however, there have been limited reviews of the literature. This article reassesses the work on brand and line extensions and integrates it into a conceptual framework. The latter shows that extension and core brand evaluations are affected by consumer perceptions of fit. Moderating factors that influence the relationship between fit and consumer evaluations of the extension and the core brand are also identified. The framework is subsequently used to develop concrete research propositions to guide further research in the area.

PurposeTo investigate empirically the impact of brand extensions on brand personality, using Aaker's scale to measure the latter.Design/methodology/approachExperimental study manipulating extension fit (good/poor fit), controlling for brand familiarity and including a control group.FindingsNo adverse impact on brand personality of core brand as a result of introducing extensions (irrespective of fit).Research limitations/implicationsCross‐sectional study not capturing potential long‐term effects of extensions with poor fit. Longitudinal research is needed, as are replications with different brands, types of extensions and consumer segments.Practical implicationsPreliminary support for introducing extension for a quality brand without fear of adversely affecting its brand personality.Originality/valueFirst study explicitly investigating impact of brand extensions on brand personality.

As there is not universal acceptance of political parties as brands, the paper justifies and theoretically supports considering them as such. It then uses a cognitive psychology perspective to explain in detail how consumers learn about political brands. From this, the interaction between the leader, the party and its policies is considered as a means by which political brand image forms in consumer memory. This is followed by an analysis of the potential benefits proffered by political brands to voters. These benefits, it is postulated, motivate consumers to learn about, interact with and eventually help decide upon a political brand. Finally, the paper considers the future of political brands, in particular through the prism of postmodern consumer behaviour.