Chris Brogan wrote a post about cross promotion titled ‘Thinking About Branding‘ the other day. Basically, he mentioned how he thinks a company should not branch out into other venues – but I disagree. I would want to try these things out – and study them.

‘Microsoft – The Restaurant‘ was one example, and he mentioned that when he thinks of Microsoft he doesn’t want to think food – but that is a deadly way to think. When I thought of Apple computer’s I didn’t necessarily think of a phone company, or a music store. But when creating a business, one has to think of their demographic and where they are and what they would do with your service.

The truth is, I feel Microsoft would benefit from a restaurant. People eat and work at the same time now more than ever. It’d prob be a neat little coffe shop, but with the newest gadgets, like their Microsoft Surface.

The Microsoft Surface could launch an entire restaurant enterprise, just like the iPod launched an entire music store.

When I think of Starbucks I used to only think coffee, not WiFi. When I think WaWa I used to think convenience store, not a gasoline chain. But these evolutions cross promote and are a convenience for customers.

WaWa sells gas to allow costumers to shop while their car is filling up

I’d also think of all these ’strange combinations’ as an experiment on how companies work on their cross promotion. It’d be a study in marketing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft the Restaurant succeed, and in turn study of how they did it (or how they failed).

So what companies do you think would be good for ‘Branching Out’? Do you Agree or Disagree with my thoughts?

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