Dual Brands
Dual brands serve different audiences
Best Buy is a powerful and recognized brand... so why do we operate Future Shop as the market-leading brand in Canada?
Well, Future Shop's customers...love Future Shop. It was the market leader in Canada when we acquired it in 2001...and it's even stronger today. Why mess with a good thing?
Future Shop has a long, successful history in Canada, and serves ITS customers better than anyone. But, with only 16% market share, that left 84% of the market still being served differently, by competitors.
Enter Best Buy Canada.
The same team launched the Best Buy brand in Canada and watched it grow to over 10% market share in six years. And here's the kicker: that share gain came from competitors, not Future Shop. (We have stores that literally share parking lots, and they thrive, together.) We now operate two strong, healthy and growing brands in Canada with a combined 35% market share.
How? Well, we think it's the most vivid example of customer centricity that we have. Each brand knows its unique customers — and they get out of bed every day to serve those customers. Do the brands compete with each other? Yep, but we'd liken it to sibling rivalry. And we think that makes them BOTH stronger. (We've heard stories — always denied — that the Future Shop employees refer to the Best Buy employees as "smurfs" because of their blue shirts. "We got spirit, yes we do...").
Exporting dual brands to China
Based on our experience in Canada, we exported the dual brand idea to China, where we operate the Five Star brand and the Best Buy brand. They are very different—and they serve different customers.
We're focused on meeting customers needs, and if we can do that better with two brands than we can with just one, then that is what we'll do.
