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Brands that have refused to be dynamic & customer-oriented, have simply been digging their own graves
“We
read the world wrong and say that it deceives us,” said Rabindranath Tagore. It’s a saying worth looking into more carefully by our corporate houses and their CEOs. It would help them understand & “read” consumers more accurately, and offer them the right products & services.According to some estimates, 80% of all new products fail upon introduction, and a further 10% die within five years. Booze Allen & Hamilton, too, published a finding which found the simple truth – most new products fail! Yet, corporations repeatedly spend their precious resources on products, just to fail time and again in the market. Come to think of it, more that 22,000 products are introduced each year – most fail. Why?
Adapt or Die
Since
the beginning of time, the survival rule on this planet has been simple – only those who have been ready to adapt to the changing circumstances have survived, the rest have perished. 99.9 % of all species that have existed on the planet have become extinct. The marketplace, too, seems to follow this killing jungle law.This product used to rule the Indian roads. Launched in 1972, the brand was the quintessential part of every bride’s dowry list. It used to have a waiting period of more than 10 years. This superstar of a brand was none other than “Hamara Bajaj”. However, this vehicle of the masses, the inimitable Bajaj Chetak scooter, officially closed production in December 2005. Bajaj did not change with the changing needs of the consumers. Chetak – named after the most dependable and reliable stallion of Maharana Pratap – could not keep galloping forever. For almost 40 years, the company did nothing to change or modify the design of Chetak. This winner succumbed to the growing & changing demands of the consumer. How ironical, that a product that had a tag-line of ‘You can’t beat a Bajaj’, itself got beaten in the marketplace, just because it didn’t change.
When it came to the ‘pain rub market’, only one name loomed large – Iodex. It ruled the market for almost eight decades. However, somewhere down the line, it forgot that the consumer is the king and stopped listening to him. It did not realise that there was someone waiting to fill the gap. Surreptitiously, Moov moved in and dethroned the king. A brand owned by a giant like Glaxo, commanding not just more than 50% of the market share, but also a huge goodwill, is dwindling today! Ooh, Aah, Ouch!
The name Federal Express did not match with the express delivery service that the brand stood for. People perceived it to be a slow government organisation. They immediately changed the name to a smart & snappy FedEx. Suddenly, the Fed was a happening company!
As home baking took a back seat, thanks to the packaged food culture taking over the market, Arm & Hammer changed too. They started promoting their baking soda as a deodorizing agent for refrigerators & drains. Sales, once again, shot through the roof.
There is no place for complacency in today’s market. When the theme restaurant, Planet Hollywood, was launched in 1991, it seemed to be a jackpot of an idea. You had top Hollywood stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Sylvester Stallon, who had stakes in it. The place was decorated with Hollywood memorabilia. The recipes were given by famous stars. They even had a full line of Planet Hollywood clothing being retailed at the restaurant. People were curious and thousands flocked in. However, very few came in a second time. They felt the food was nothing great and it was over priced. The company was too much in love with itself to look down from its ivory tower. It refused to change! From 95 outlets, the number reduced to 13; and by 2001, its founders, Robert Earl & Keith Barrish, were struggling to escape bankruptcy. The planet flew out of its orbit!
If success makes you arrogant, you are bound to fail. Hayes was a brand that was as strong as Microsoft and Compaq. Sometimes, people bought the Hayes modem before they even purchased a computer. The consumer was in love with the product. However, success muddled up the company’s vision and they did not see the changing needs of the consumer, who now wanted many more features. The company refused to budge and today lies buried in the godowns of failed products.
Initial success does not guarantee long-term success. You need to re-invent yourself. You can not rest, on your past laurels. Customers have to be nurtured. So it’s imperative to innovate constantly. Margo, one of the oldest soaps in India, refused to do that. Back in the good old days, when people’s tastes were not so refined and were much simpler, a good soap with the medicinal properties of neem was enough to convince them to buy it. However, with time, the consumer wanted better packaging, better fragrance, better shapes. Margo refused to re-invent itself and lost out on the younger generation, who refused to pick up an old, ugly looking soap. It was a classic case of waking up to reality a bit, too late. Lifebuoy, almost as old as Margo, changed quickly and adapted itself to the changes. It survived! Margo, even with its neem content (something Indians depend on today, too) had to taste “bitter” failure! Darwin’s law still rules. It’s still the survival of the fittest!
Copyright © : Rajita Chaudhuri and Planman Media.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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