Brand Failures

Idea failures 35
As the examples in this book illustrate, there are numerous reasons why
brands fail. Sometimes it is because the market they are associated with has
become obsolete. Other times it is as a result of extending into an unsuitable
product category. In some, dramatic cases it is the result of a high-profile
scandal which causes the public to boycott the brand.
Often though, the reason for failure is more straightforward. Many brands
fail because they are simply bad ideas that haven’t been properly researched.
Occasionally these failures are the result of strong, established brands coming
up with a new variation of their product. Understanding that new product
categories should be avoided, brands stay within their original category but
come up with a bizarre twist on the formula. But why should that matter
After all, branding isn’t about products, it is about perception. This is the new
marketing mantra. And yet, there is no escaping the fact that at least part of
this perception centres around the product itself.
The cleverest brand strategy in the world cannot make consumers buy a
product they don’t want. Or at least, it can’t make them buy it more than
once. While it is true that the market leader is not always the best in terms
of quality, it is equally true that if a product is truly bad or truly pointless it
will be unable to find eager customers.
The real question is, how do bad products appear in the first place If the
consumer doesn’t want them, why invent them Because companies still insist
that they know better than their customers. It is certainly true that market
research has failings of its own. As Henry Ford remarked on the launch of
his Model T, ‘if I had asked the customer, he would have asked for a faster
horse.’
The problem is that what companies consider sublime, the customer all
too often treats as ridiculous. Bottled mineral water for dogs Great idea, says
the company. A joke, responds the customer.
Even some of the world’s most successful brands have been guilty of
introducing incredibly bad products. For instance, in 1995 Microsoft came