Brand Failures

18 Brand failures
Lessons from New Coke
Concentrate on the brand’s perception. In the words of Jack Trout, author of
Differentiate or Die, ‘marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products’.
Don’t clone your rivals. In creating New Coke, Coca-Cola was reversing its
brand image to overlap with that of Pepsi. The company has made similar
mistakes both before and after, launching Mr Pibb to rival Dr Pepper and
Fruitopia to compete with Snapple.
Feel the love. According to Saatchi and Saatchi’s worldwide chief executive
officer, Kevin Roberts, successful brands don’t have ‘trademarks’. They
have ‘lovemarks’ instead. In building brand loyalty, companies are also
creating an emotional attachment that often has little to do with the
quality of the product.
Don’t be scared to U-turn. By going back on its decision to scrap original
Coke, the company ended up creating an even stronger bond between the
product and the consumer.
Do the right market research. Despite the thousands of taste tests Coca-Cola
carried out on its new formula, it failed to conduct adequate research into
the public perception of the original brand.