Brand Failures: The Truth about the 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Time

by Matt Haig

Overview

It's not just smaller, lesser-known companies that have launched dud brands. On the contrary, most of the world's global giants have launched new products that have flopped - spectacularly and at great cost. Haig organizes these 100 "failures" into ten types which include classic failures (e.g., New Coke), idea failures (e.g., R.J.Reynolds' smokeless cigarettes), extension failures (e.g. Harley Davidson perfume), culture failures (e.g., Kellogs in India), and technology failures (e.g., Pets.com).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780749454630
Publisher:	Kogan Page, Ltd.
Publication date:	05/28/2003
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	310
File size:	377 KB

About the Author

Matt Haig is an acclaimed writer and journalist. He is the author of the best-selling Brand Success, (previously published as Brand Royalty by Kogan Page) and also several best-selling novels, including The Radleys, The Dead Fathers Club and The Last Family in England (Vintage).

Table of Contents

1.	Introduction	1
	Why brands fail	4
	Brand myths	6
	Why focus on failure?	7
2.	Classic failures	9
1	New Coke	13
2	The Ford Edsel	19
3	Sony Betamax	26
4	McDonald's Arch Deluxe	30
3.	Idea failures	33
5	Kellogg's Cereal Mates: warm milk, frosty reception	37
6	Sony's Godzilla: a monster flop	40
7	Persil Power: one stubborn stain on Unilever's reputation	44
8	Pepsi: in pursuit of purity	47
9	Earring Magic Ken: when Barbie's boyfriend came out of the closet	50
10	The Hot Wheels computer: stereotyping the market	53
11	Corfam: the leather substitute	55
12	RJ Reynolds' Smokeless Cigarettes: the ultimate bad idea	57
13	Oranjolt: the drink that lost its cool	62
14	La Femme: where are the pink ladies?	64
15	Radion: bright orange boxes aren't enough	67
16	Clairol's 'Touch of Yoghurt' shampoo	68
17	Pepsi AM	69
18	Maxwell House ready-to-drink coffee	70
19	Campbell's Souper Combo	71
20	Thirsty Cat! and Thirsty Dog!: bottled water for pets	72
4.	Extension failures	73
21	Harley Davidson perfume: the sweet smell of failure	77
22	Gerber Singles: when branding goes ga ga	82
23	Crest: stretching a brand to its limit	83
24	Heinz All Natural Cleaning Vinegar: confusing the customer	87
25	Miller: the ever-expanding brand	90
26	Virgin Cola: a brand too far	94
27	Bic underwear: strange but true	96
28	Xerox Data Systems: more than copiers?	98
29	Chiquita: is there life beyond bananas?	103
30	Country Time Cider	106
31	Ben-Gay Aspirin	107
32	Capital Radio restaurants	108
33	Smith and Wesson mountain bikes	109
34	Cosmopolitan yoghurt	110
35	Lynx barbershop	111
36	Colgate Kitchen Entrees	112
37	LifeSavers Soda	113
38	Pond's toothpaste	114
39	Frito-Lay Lemonade	115
5.	PR failures	117
40	Exxon	121
41	McDonald's: the McLibel trial	124
42	Perrier's benzene contamination	129
43	Pan Am: ending in tragedy	132
44	Snow Brand milk products: poisoning a brand	134
45	Rely tampons: Procter & Gamble's toxic shock	137
46	Gerber's PR blunder	140
47	RJ Reynold's Joe Camel campaign	142
48	Firestone tyres	144
49	Farley's infant milk and the salmonella incident	148
6.	Culture failures	151
50	Kellogg's in India	155
51	Hallmark in France	161
52	Pepsi in Taiwan	163
53	Schweppes Tonic Water in Italy	164
54	Chevy Nova and others	165
55	Electrolux in the United States	166
56	Gerber in Africa	167
57	Coors in Spain	168
58	Frank Perdue's chicken in Spain	169
59	Clairol's Mist Stick in Germany	170
60	Parker Pens in Mexico	171
61	American Airlines in Mexico	172
62	Vicks in Germany	173
63	Kentucky Fried Chicken in Hong Kong	174
64	CBS Fender: a tale of two cultures	175
65	Quaker Oats' Snapple: failing to understand the essence of the brand	178
7.	People failures	181
66	Enron: failing the truth	185
67	Arthur Andersen: shredding a reputation	187
68	Ratner's: when honesty is not the best policy	189
69	Planet Hollywood: big egos, weak brand	192
70	Fashion Cafe: from catwalk to catfights	194
71	Hear'Say: from pop to flop	196
72	Guiltless Gourmet: helping the competition	198
8.	Rebranding failures	201
73	Consignia: a post office by any other name	205
74	Tommy Hilfiger: the power of the logo	209
75	BT Cellnet to O[subscript 2]: undoing the brand	212
76	ONdigital to ITV Digital: how the 'beautiful dream' went sour	214
77	Windscale to Sellafield: same identity, different name	218
78	Payless Drug Store to Rite Aid Corporation	220
79	British Airways	221
80	MicroPro	222
9.	Internet and new technology failures	223
81	Pets.com	229
82	VoicePod: failing to be heard	234
83	Excite@Home: bad branding@work	236
84	WAP: why another protocol?	239
85	Dell's Web PC: not quite a net gain	242
86	Intel's Pentium chip: problem? What problem?	245
87	IBM's Linux software and the graffiti guerrillas	247
88	boo.com: the party's over	249
10.	Tired brands	257
89	Oldsmobile: how the King of Chrome ended up on the scrap heap	261
90	Pear's soap: failing to hit the present taste	265
91	Ovaltine: when a brand falls asleep	268
92	Kodak: failing to stay ahead	270
93	Polaroid: live by the category, die by the category	274
94	Rover: a dog of brand	280
95	Moulinex: going up in smoke	282
96	Nova magazine: let sleeping brands lie	284
97	Levi's: below the comfort zone	287
98	Kmart: a brand on the brink	291
99	The Cream nightclub: last dance saloon?	293
100	Yardley cosmetics: from grannies to handcuffs	298
	References	301
	Index	303

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Haig, a marketing consultant, is one of a new breed of writers producing marketing primers for the hyphenated age of e-marketing. This type of work is characterized by breezily written snippets of success or failure as either encouragement or admonition for the practitioner or for a new category of reader: the business voyeur. Thus these works are written in a readable and appealing format, as e-business fables. Examining 'the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time, ' Haig organizes these 100 "failures" into ten types, each with its own moral and admonition. These types include classic failures (e.g., New Coke), idea failures (e.g., R.J. Reynolds' smokeless cigarettes), extension failures (e.g., Harley Davidson perfume), culture failures (e.g., Kelloggs in India), and technology failures (e.g., Pets.com). The idea behind this work is that with knowledge these failures can be avoided, but this reviewer regards it as akin to Monday morning quarterbacking in its validity as an activity. None of this takes away the schadenfreude of this well-written, quick read. Useful more as a cultural artifact than classroom text, this book could serve as supplementary reading for advanced marketing courses and for business voyeurs who like a good read. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduate and graduate students; and practitioners." — S. A. Schulman, CUNY Kingsborough Community College

Editorial Reviews

"An entertaining and useful read. As a ready crib for the most famous brand foul-ups, this book is hard to beat."

The Financial Times

"This book is a lot of fun. Haig wants to educate as well as to entertain, and at this he succeeds."

Journal of Consumer Marketing

"Haig intelligently discusses how multi-million dollar advertising campaigns launching new brands can sink without a trace. ... Learn from other's mistakes." — Library Journal

From the Publisher