• The New York Times, Monday, May 19, 2008 10:15 AM

Can dead brands that people still remember can be brought back to life? Consider Salon Selectives hair products. While these brands couldn't survive in the portfolio of a multinational parent, the world is changing.
"As surely as the ownership of brands has consolidated through one megamerger after another, the consumer market seems to be moving in the opposite direction, with an individualism-fueled demand for almost unlimited variety" and a fragmented media marketplace that can serve smaller markets.

This shifting demand means that perhaps there is now room for brands like Salon Selectives that can be "reanimated." The strategy must balance familiarity with something that makes the product seem fresh and novel.

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