With a model that has its roots in America, mid-1800’s, today, branding is still an important part of the business world. If we were to step back in time, back to the 1850’s, when, with thousands of heads of cattle or sheep roaming the land, the owners needed a way to identify and separate their own livestock from their neighbors, it is easy to understand how branding came to become an important part of our business landscape.

From cattle & sheep, to cars, soft drinks, store fronts and almost everything in between, today, branding is seldom thought about, but is still a critical part of our everyday lives. Good branding can take a business into areas of commerce that they never thought about when they first started out.

Take this Fox News headline: “Disney to Sell Mickey-Inspired Fruit, Veggie Products.”  Now I’m quite certain that when Walt Disney launched the brand of Disney (NYSE DIS), he never once thought about having his name associated with fruit and vegetable products.

Yet such is the power of having a positive brand. If you can link your name to a product line that your customers use, imagine the possibilities.

Since the Disney brand is connected in so many ways to not only the children of today, but to their parents and even their grandparents, it makes perfect sense to expand that brand into foods for the young ones (as well as the young at heart.)

This market move is tied to our current epidemic of childhood obesity and all of the national attention it has garnered. The Disney line will include new items which include Mickey-shaped snack trays with a combination of celery, peanut butter, raisins or apples, cheese, crackers and others. Other items include teriyaki sugar snap peas, honey orange carrot coins, cheesy broccoli bites, and miniature apples, peaches, pears, plums and oranges.

To be marketed in the produce sections of major food chains, Disney already has nationwide distribution in place. What Disney has done is simply explore, identify, and then market a product that their existing customers already purchase. If they’re already going to be buying it from somebody… why not Disney?

There is a lesson in the Disney decision to be learned from businesses of all kinds. How well do you know your customer base? Have they come to trust you to meet certain areas of their lives? How can you convert that trust into new product lines? And most importantly, how do you think people will feel about eating a Mickey Mouse shaped pear?