True confession: I enjoy watching Shark Tank. It’s a guilty pleasure reality TV show where entrepreneurs pitch their products to a group of four or five Venture Capitalists (the “Sharks “). During last Friday night’s season premiere, I saw what I can only call a very clever growth strategy, one that is mirrored in a custom study Brian and I are working on, aptly called “Retail Growth Strategies. “

In our study, while we expected to find retailers eagerly looking to new markets for growth, thus far we’ve found something very different. In general retailers most valued opportunities lie in existing markets. They find a lot value in adding stores, expanding their digital presence, and most interestingly, “new brands or partnerships. “

And that brings me back to Shark Tank. First, let me set a bit of background for the uninitiated.

Last night’s sharks included Robert Herjavec, a technology specialist, Lori Greiner, who is called “The Queen of QVC ” and is also an inventor, Barbara Corcoran, whose background is in real estate but who has helped product pitchers as well, Daymond John, creator of the FUBU fashion brand, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and media entrepreneur, and Kevin O’Leary, originally a software entrepreneur who generally plays the villain on the show.

All the Sharks have backed businesses that sought retail distribution, either on-line or in stores. The show is amazingly synergistic – however much money these folks had coming into Shark Tank, they’re now celebrities, with a brand that extends into many different industries. In previous shows we’ve looked at success stories for various participants, but last night, they showed what they’d been working on all summer. The only ‘true’ billionaire coming into the show was Mark Cuban…but by now, who knows? And last night we saw their brand extension. In fact, when it came on I said “Ooh…they’ve gone omni-channel! “

At the beginning of the show, we were taken into a Target store, where several “Shark Tank ” success stories were unveiled on a single display rack. The products were varied, but the overarching theme was “As seen on Shark Tank. ” As I read on a different site, “Can an ‘As Seen on Shark Tank‘ web site be far behind?’ The only question we can ask is “Why didn’t they do this sooner? ” It is brilliant.

What these guys have done is take their initial funds, poured large and small amounts into a variety of nascent brands, helped promote them, done clever mergers and acquisitions, and now… re-emphasized the brand cache of Shark Tank to catch customers’ eyes in Target. They are the classic definition of “frenemies. “

We can debate about the fairness or unfairness of the deals these Sharks make. Honestly, anyone who has ever dealt with a Venture Capitalist (VC) knows that “shark ” is a very apt term for them. Their money is expensive – you have to give up a large portion of their business to them. Their attention span is short – it’s rare to see a VC hold a company for longer than three years, five is considered a ‘very patient investment.’ But these are like VC on steroids. They don’t just buy a piece of your company, they also provide one-time visibility into millions of homes (and re-runs are constantly playing on CNBC for an extra pop). If the company is successful, the network will do a short segment on a future Shark Tank show, to keep that flow of entrepreneurs coming, and willing to face Mr. O’Leary’s very ugly jabs.

The Sharks keep finding new growth strategies for the personal and purchased brands. It’s an interesting lesson for all of us.

In the meanwhile, stay tuned for our full benchmark on Retail Growth Strategies.