Brand failures are happening constantly. Just look at how Netflix recently wanted to split its business into two divisions. Netflix (a company that in September made customers angry with a steep price rise) wanted to keep its movie streaming business and move its DVDs by mail business to a new company called Qwikster.
Surprisingly (NOT!) their customers were unhappy with the idea since it would complicate getting movies. They wouldn’t be able to decide if they wanted a movie to stream or have it mailed for later viewing from one account. Instead, they would need two accounts where one used to suffice. No company should ever make it more difficult for a customer to get their product. Netflix backpedaled, apologized and decided to keep their company’s offerings in one company. Only time will tell if customers decide to stay with them. Read more about it here.
The book Brand Failures by Matt Haig has 100 examples of big branding mistakes. It shows how brands are more likely to fail than succeed if they don’t keep the needs of their customers in mind. Each case study features lessons you can learn from the brand’s mistake. Some examples of brand failures covered in this book are McDonald’s failed product – the Arch Deluxe, Kodak’s failure to use the digital technology they had, and Planet Hollywood’s celebrity-endorsed restaurants.
