Sometimes when you look at the marketing campaigns of multinational brands, you feel disappointed. They invest billions of dollars, and a team of hundreds of people works with years of experience to produce the desired results. But unfortunately, when you see the final product, it sometimes does not meet your expectations as a consumer.
As a brand, you need to put yourself in the customer’s shoes to understand their way of thinking about a particular product. They are not interested in what you are selling, “why” is what you need to emphasize when you market your products and services. This is how you can evoke customers’ interest in your brand.
There could be different reasons for the failure of a brand, but here are some of the potential reasons to make you understand why brands flop and face disappointment.
Poor Marketing Strategy
Three to four decades ago, when consumers started to become aware of the products due to natural marketing, it was evident that marketing is crucial for any brand.
Take an example of Clairol; they introduced two shampoos with the name of Touch of Yogurt and Look of Buttermilk. Both of these products failed terribly. The reason is that no proper story or strategy was built to market these products. The right message was not conveyed to the consumers about why dairy products are beneficial for hair. Think like a customer for a second, and you will realize that will you wash your hair in yogurt? If yes, then why would anybody do that?
The same goes for the Look of Buttermilk. It did not communicate the actual purpose of the product to the consumer and neither any benefit. So, it is clear that with improper and illogical marketing strategy, you cannot ever succeed as a brand.
Not Focusing on Customer Demand
If you want to run a marketing campaign on TV or through exhibition display, then first you need to assess the number of people and their demands who will show interest in your promotion. If you fail to understand customers’ requirements, then you cannot achieve the desired results for your brand.
In 2017, McDonald’s decided to relaunch one of their sauces through a TV series Rick and Morty. It was shown in the series that the character goes for the hunt of McDonald’s Szechuan sauce that was first launched in 1998. When customers rushed to McDonald’s to get the sauce, it turned out that the sauce was only reintroduced for a single day. The McDonald’s clearly underestimated the customers’ demand as people were left waiting in lines for hours. In the end, a large number of people got nothing due to the shortage of the product.
Therefore, before launching a promotional campaign, think twice that either you can meet the demand or not. If not, then it is better not to run a campaign and cause a brand disaster yourself.
Pushing your Brand too Far
Overextending your brand does nothing good for you. Some brands think that they can grab customers’ attention by simply attaching their name to the product, which is a wrong perception.
For example, Harley-Davidson has a huge fan base of motorcyclists, but they faced a revolt when they tried to launch perfume and aftershave. If you love to drive Harley, then why would you want to buy any other product from them?
Brands mostly make this mistake by trying to introduce something out of the box. It is vital to focus on your expertise and staying within your limitations.
Not Evolving with Time
If you ask your father about the malted milk drink such as Ovaltine, then they may tell you something about it. But if you talk about today’s modern world, then Ovaltine can hardly get any brand recognition. The reason is that it never evolved with time.
The market continuously evolves as time goes on. Take an example of Nestlé and see how they promote Milo with the same health message by claiming that it possesses 12 necessary minerals and vitamins like that of Ovaltine’s. Whereas Ovaltine started evolving quite late, and now they are paying the price for it. So, not changing with the market trends can be one of the causes of your brand failure and remember nostalgia is not always equal to good sales.
Conclusion
It takes years to establish a brand and its credibility in customers’ eyes. You cannot afford to lose your reputation in front of consumers due to silly mistakes. Hopefully, the above-explained reasons will help you to understand what you should not do as a brand to experience failure.