Brand Failures

Tired brands 269
granny used to drink. In common with cocoa and Horlicks, Ovaltine
took on the image of the sedative nightcap of veterans. Any potential
buyer for the drink might reflect that the backwards-looking website
Sterling Time – dedicated to ‘British nostalgia. . . Englishness and
patriotism’ – contains a large section memorialising the Ovaltineys [the
children used for the 1930s Ovaltine campaigns].
Future anthropologists may also be interested in the fact that so many people
were once drawn to draughts reputed to put you out for the night. Part of
the reason for the decline of Ovaltine is surely that more recent generations
exist in a habitual state of exhaustion, caused by longer working hours, the
collapse of public transport and the cult of intensive, hands-on parenting
among young mums and dads. They are also far more likely than their
grandparents to drink wine nightly and have the option of late-night or allnight
television: all reliable knockouts. Graham Norton, Jacob’s Creek and
long-distance commuting now achieve much of what Ovaltine used to.
When Ovaltine sales started to slip, it launched spin offs such as Chocolate
Ovaltine, Ovaltine Light and Ovaltine Power. It also started to use contemporary
children in its advertising, in its attempt to reposition itself as a ‘now
brand’ as opposed to a ‘then brand’.
However, unlike other drink brands – such as Lucozade, which moved
from medicine status to sporty essential through clever marketing – Ovaltine
has not been able to shake off its sleepy, nostalgic identity. Whether a new
owner will be able to perform such a miracle remains to be seen.
Lessons from Ovaltine
Don’t build unpopular brand associations. ‘The problem of this traditional
bedtime cuppa is that it had become associated with two unpopular
commodities, nostalgia and somnolence,’ wrote Mark Lawson.
Don’t fall into the nostalgia trap. Nostalgia can be a powerful selling force,
but it can also ultimately make a brand irrelevant to the present market.