Brand Failures

People failures 191
met comedians who wanted to be millionaires, but I must have been the only
millionaire who wanted to be a comedian,’ he told the interviewer. However,
in 2002 Ratner was back on a mission to resurrect the Ratner’s name and
create an online version of the brand, called simply Ratners-Online.
‘I didn’t want to use the Ratner’s name but research shows that it is still the
best-known name in the jewellery business despite the fact that there hasn’t
been a Ratner’s shop for years,’ Gerald told the Evening Standard in 2001. In
another interview, for the Guardian, he said the name would provoke
curiosity from Web users. ‘We were going to call it something else but
thought it was more likely to get hits on the Internet – even from a curiosity
point of view.’
Whether this curiosity will be converted into long-term sales remains to
be seen. Gerald also needs to make sure that this time he keeps his foot a good
distance away from his mouth. ‘It is difficult for me to resist jokes, even if I
am the only one that really finds them funny,’ he chuckles. ‘But I really will
try.’
Lessons from Ratners
Think before you speak. It often takes years to build trust among consumers,
but as Gerald Ratner proved, that trust can be blown in a couple of words.
Remember that most dangers come from within. Most brand damage does
not arise from product flaws or distribution problems. A lot of it comes
from employees or managers who fail to live up to their role as ambassadors
of the brand. In service industries, where most employees are
interacting with the public on a regular basis, it is especially important to
maintain a positive attitude.