The advantages of flanker branding are:

Attracting new set of the customers that are not served by existing product in the
market.
Protecting the company, in a situation when one of the brands fail, the other brand
survives.
Giving an opportunity to the brand owner of introducing products at a different
price, higher/lower under the flanker brand without affecting the price of the
products under the existing brand.
Using the brand as a defense i.e. to counter attack a competitor who attacks an
existing brand with a unique offering