Book summary “Brand Failures”: summary

Introduction

You want to build a lasting brand, but the marketplace punishes every misstep with ruthless speed. When you launch a new product, expand your portfolio, or respond to a crisis, a single blind spot can destroy decades of accumulated value. You face the constant challenge of protecting consumer trust in an environment where public perception shifts overnight.

Matt Haig analyzes one hundred major brand blunders to uncover why iconic companies stumble. The author argues that modern failures stem from predictable psychological and strategic traps rather than random bad luck. You learn that branding mistakes follow distinct patterns across classic mismatches, idea extensions, public relations crises, cultural missteps, and technological overreaches.

The following questions guide this exploration:

• What drives otherwise successful companies to commit catastrophic branding errors?
• How do you balance innovation with the core identity that customers trust?
• What separates a recoverable public relations blunder from terminal brand destruction?

1. The Seven Deadly Sins of Branding

When brands fail, it is usually the result of a distorted perception caused by one of seven core branding sins.

Factory owners originally created brands in the nineteenth century to reassure an anxious public about mass-produced goods by adding a human element. Campbell's, Heinz, and Quaker Oats used human faces like Uncle Ben or Aunt Jemima in the 1880s to build trust. In the twenty-first century, branding has transformed into perception-building where image is everything. Because consumers buy based on perception, a single media scandal, rumour, or bad association can destroy brand value overnight. Modern tech brands like BlackBerry achieve massive brand values of $31 billion in 2010 despite smaller volume market shares.

Many companies rely on flawed theories, such as the belief that being first to market guarantees enduring success or that a good product will automatically sell. In reality, latecomers often reap the biggest benefits, and most new products fail despite heavy advertising. Procter and Gamble claimed to create the American disposable-diaper business, but a company named Chux had launched its product a quarter of a century earlier in 1961. Statistically, an estimated 80 per cent of all new products fail upon introduction, and an additional 10 per cent of new products die within five years.

Product-Blame versus Brand-Blame

Companies run into trouble when they fall victim to specific psychological and strategic traps that break the emotional bond between the customer and the brand. These traps distort how a company views its market, its competition, or its own identity. Brand amnesia occurred when Coca-Cola replaced its original formula with New Coke, while brand ego was evident when Polaroid tried to dominate instant photography alone.

You can identify these traps through specific warning signs:

• Check for brand amnesia when an old brand tries to create a radical new identity.
• Watch for brand ego when overestimating importance or capability.
• Recognize brand megalomania when expanding into every imaginable category.
• Avoid brand deception when attempting to cover up reality with fiction.
• Combat brand fatigue when companies grow bored of their own long-standing products.
• Identify brand paranoia when reacting to competition with excessive lawsuits or frequent reinventions.
• Prevent brand irrelevance when markets radically evolve.

2. Classic Failures and Product Mismatches

Rational taste tests and heavy hype cannot save a product that ignores deep emotional attachments or consumer convenience.

New Coke and the Power of Originality

The Coca-Cola Company relied on 200,000 blind taste tests proving people preferred a sweeter formula, so they replaced original Coke with New Coke. They completely underestimated public passion and the power of their original brand asset: originality. In 1985, Coca-Cola replaced its flagship drink with New Coke, triggering an immediate public boycott and outrage until executives restored original Coke as Classic Coke.

You should follow these rules to secure emotional attachment:

• Concentrate on the brand's perception rather than treating marketing as a pure product battle.
• Do not clone your rivals by mirroring their product attributes.
• Build lovemarks instead of mere trademarks to secure emotional attachment.
• Do not be scared to make a U-turn if a strategic decision alienates customers.
• Conduct thorough research into public perception of the core brand alongside product testing.

The Ford Edsel and Sony Betamax

Ford invested massive research into the Edsel, creating excessive expectations through teaser campaigns before anyone saw the car. When revealed, consumers disliked the distinctive grille, found the high price unjustified during an economic downturn, and encountered severe mechanical defects. Ford lost $2 billion in today's money on the Edsel, which sold only 64,000 units in its first year against an initial target of 200,000 units.

Sony pioneered home VCRs with Betamax, offering superior picture and sound quality. However, JVC licensed its competing VHS format to multiple electronics companies and delivered longer recording times, which mattered more to consumers than marginal quality differences. Sony sold 30,000 Betamax units in its first US year in 1975, but by 1987 VHS captured 95 percent of the market, forcing Sony to announce a VHS line.

3. Idea and Product Conception Failures

Branding cannot save a truly bad or pointless product because perception is ultimately tied to the product itself.

The cleverest strategy cannot force you to buy a terrible product more than once. Companies frequently invent solutions you do not want because they mistakenly believe they know better than their market. Microsoft launched Bob in 1995, an animated social interface with friends like Rover the dog and Scuzz the sewer rat, which adults roundly rejected because nobody wanted it.

Convenience and Formulation Traps

Kellogg's Cereal Mates failed because it offered warm milk when you wanted cold milk, was placed illogically in dairy cases, featured confusing advertising, was priced too high, and ultimately was not convenient enough to eat while driving. Kellogg's launched Cereal Mates in the US with top brands like Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes, but pulled it from shelves in 1999 after it failed to catch on. Amid a market where 64 percent of families featured two working parents, the 4 oz cereal box missed its mark.

The entertainment industry relies heavily on cross-promotional tie-ins and synergy. Sony spent 60 million US dollars on a teaser campaign and massive marketing for 1998's Godzilla, but devastating online reviews and bad word of mouth ruined its box office momentum. An online group found 63 fundamental flaws in Godzilla.

Unilever launched Persil Power with a revolutionary manganese accelerator that fought stains so aggressively it destroyed clothes at high temperatures. Competitors capitalized on the failure, causing massive corporate damage and forcing a costly product replacement. Unilever replaced Persil Power with Persil New Generation in early 1995 at an estimated cost of more than 200 million pounds after clothes were damaged. This occurred within a UK market for soaps and detergents valued at 1.42 billion pounds in the mid-1990s, where the fabric washing sector reached 960 million pounds, with 67.5 per cent representing fabric washing share.

Pepsi attempted to capture the demand for purity by launching Crystal Pepsi, a clear cola, in 1992, which was pulled after a year. They followed with an equally unsuccessful clear cola named Crystal in 1994 before they found success with Aquafina bottled water. Mattel released Earring Magic Ken in 1993 featuring a mesh T-shirt, purple leather vest, and a left-side earring, which was quickly dubbed Gay Ken and subsequently discontinued. Patriot Computers released the Hot Wheels PC for boys and a Barbie computer for girls in 1999 in partnership with Mattel, which failed as mere surface design with stickers.

DuPont launched Corfam at the Chicago Shoe Show in 1963 as a synthetic leather substitute, predicting it would make up a quarter of US shoes by 1984. It lacked leather's flexibility and breathability, could not compete with cheap PVC vinyl, and was undercut by the leather industry until DuPont withdrew it in April 1971.

RJ Reynolds spent 325 million US dollars on Premier in 1988 and later 125 million US dollars in 1996 on Eclipse to bypass passive smoking concerns. These smokeless cigarettes suffered from terrible taste, difficult lighting mechanics, and severe health controversies. Normal cigarette smoke produced by Eclipse reached 10 per cent, and 99 out of 100 Eclipse cigarettes were found to contain glass fibers in their filters.

Chrysler attempted to capture the emerging female car buyer market by introducing La Femme in 1955, a pink car equipped with rosebud tapestry upholstery, a matching purse, raincoat, and lipstick holder. Women rejected the car as a crude and condescending male interpretation of femininity.

When you design new products, follow these practical rules:

• Convenience must be convenient.
• Don't mix your messages.
• Sell the brand in the right place.
• Be the best in at least one thing.
• Don't price too high.
• Remember that bigger isn't always better.
• Don't over-market your brand.
• Concentrate on the end product.
• Don't fuel your competitor's publicity.
• Test products in all conditions.
• Accept that no brand is an island.
• Don't assume that gaps should always be filled.
• Don't relaunch a failed product.
• Differentiate yourself from your main competitor.
• Research children's markets carefully.
• Don't resort to stereotypes.
• Get designers involved at the start.
• Improve on the original.
• Remember that there's no such thing as a certain success.
• Compete on quality or value.
• Don't baffle consumers with research.
• Don't sell ice cubes to cocker spaniels.
• Realize that if it has failed once, it will fail again.
• Don't patronize your customers.

4. Brand Extension and Proliferation Traps

Expanding a brand into illogical categories or proliferating sub-brands devalues identity and dilutes core consumer loyalty.

Companies often look to expand into new product categories once a market is saturated. Although this brings immediate recognition and utilizes existing distribution networks, it often wears down the brand until it no longer stands for anything unique. Nine out of ten new grocery products are line extensions, yet 7-Up cut its share of the market in half when it added brand variations such as 7-Up Gold.

Harley Davidson built a powerful loyalty based on a macho biker myth, low-end torque, and distinctive engine sound. When the company expanded into mass merchandising, aftershaves, perfumes, and wine coolers, it triggered accusations of Disneyfying the brand and estranged its core demographic. Harley Davidson launched a range of aftershave, perfume, and wine coolers, which resulted in sharp criticism from core fans before the company admitted its mistake and discontinued them by 2009 after 107 years of existence and while controlling about 50 percent of cruiser sales.

Gerber attempted to repurpose its small baby-food jars to sell small portions of meals directed at single adults. Gerber launched Gerber Singles in 1974, offering small servings of adult food in baby food jars, which failed spectacularly.

Procter & Gamble continuously launched dozens of variations of Crest toothpaste to capture micro-segments. Procter & Gamble eventually cut its product roster after seeing Crest's market share drop from over 50 percent when it had one product born in 1955 down to 25 percent when it had 50 different toothpastes across 38 stock-keeping units, despite 7.6 percent of personal care products accounting for 84.5 percent of sales.

Heinz launched All Natural Cleaning Vinegar as its first non-food item, but the product completely flopped and never sold outside the United States for the $10 billion global company founded in 1869. Miller launched numerous sub-brands and later introduced Miller Regular in 1996 with a $50 million marketing budget, but it failed because customers were completely confused by the endless array of Millers, eroding the 20 million barrels achieved in 1979.

Richard Branson rode a tank into Times Square to launch Virgin Cola priced 15 to 20 percent lower, but the brand struggled to capture even 3 percent of the market in the UK and never made a profit. Bic launched a line of disposable pantyhose, which consumers rejected because there was no credible connection to its existing plastic writing instruments.

Xerox lost $85 million launching Xerox Data Systems and later suffered failures with office networks and fax machines before advisors urged them back to laser printing, despite having 130,000 employees in 160 countries and 9,400 active patents. Chiquita suffered financial damage from overproduction in Ecuador and Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, while expensive attempts at launching frozen juice bars and exotic juices cost over $30 million after bananas accounted for 98 percent of sales previously and spent more than $75 million rebuilding plantations.

The Dangers of Line Extensions

You can protect your core identity by following strategic rules:

• Focus on your brand values.
• Don't alienate your core customers.
• Remember that more is less.
• Keep it tight.
• Handle lovemarks with care.
• Think from the consumer's perspective.
• Don't confuse the customer.
• Don't offer too many products.
• Remove product duplicates.
• Be transparent.
• Remember your heritage.
• Stick to what you know.
• Expand within the limits of your brand perception.
• Adopt a niche strategy for a niche product.
• Don't extend your brand too far.
• Have a core brand.
• Learn from your mistakes.
• Change your brand name.
• Strong brands depend on exploiting competitors' weaknesses.
• Distribution is everything.
• Exploit existing resources.
• Be flexible.
• It's vital to know who you are.
• Nobody knows the future.
• Brands are bigger than products.
• Catch-22 situations should be avoided.
• Historical identities are hard to shake off.
• A brand is never under total control.

5. Public Relations Crises and Transparency

During a corporate crisis, complete honesty and rapid communication are essential because the public is more offended by a cover-up than the disaster itself.

When a syringe was found in a Pepsi-Cola bottle, the company equipped its sales and press teams with accurate information immediately, preventing a worsening situation. In contrast, BP CEO Tony Hayward initially minimized the environmental impact of the 2010 oil disaster, clashing with public sentiment. Research shows that 95 per cent of respondents in a US survey were more offended by a company lying about a crisis than about the crisis itself.

Managing Disasters and Legal Action

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled significant quantities of its 1,260,000 barrels of oil off Alaska. The disaster cost the company around US $7 billion, including punitive fines, and caused it to drop from the largest oil company in the world to the third largest.

McDonald's sued Helen Steel and Dave Morris over a 1986 pamphlet published by London Greenpeace. The trial lasted 313 days with 180 witnesses called, and the original pamphlet ultimately circulated in 3 million copies across the UK alongside the McSpotlight website.

In 1990, high levels of benzene were discovered in Perrier bottles, prompting the withdrawal of 160 million bottles worldwide within a week. Groupe Perrier was subsequently taken over by Nestlé in 1992 and never regained its former volume share.

In 1988, a bomb exploded aboard a Pan Am flight from London to New York, causing it to crash over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. After three years of flying with empty seats, Pan Am went bankrupt and shut down in 1991.

In 2000, 14,800 people in Japan suffered food poisoning after consuming Snow Brand dairy products contaminated by bacteria from a power failure. Snow Brand's market share plummeted from 45 percent to under 10 percent, and its president resigned.

In 1980, Procter & Gamble's Rely tampon was linked to toxic shock syndrome cases in Wisconsin. The withdrawal cost US $75 million, but cooperative agreements with the CDC helped protect P&G's overall corporate reputation.

In 2001, Firestone ended its century-old supply relationship with Ford after massive tyre recalls and investigations into tread separations linked to traffic accidents and over 100 deaths, causing Firestone to drop to the bottom of corporate admiration charts.

You must handle corporate threats by following these practical rules:

• Live up to your promises.
• Act like a good corporate citizen.
• Don’t underestimate the power of the internet.
• Understand that financial muscle isn’t as strong as it used to be.
• Concentrate on public perception.
• Don’t hide the truth.
• Don’t breach the consumer’s trust.
• Accept that global brands need coherent communications policies.
• Recognize that some brands’ crises are worse than others.
• Respond quickly.
• Don’t sound selfish.
• Be prepared.
• Cooperate don’t aggravate.
• Kill the brand, save the company.
• Be honest with customers.
• Act fast.
• Be sensitive.
• Cover worst-case scenarios with business partners.
• Be aware that prediction equals protection.
• Remember that perception is everything.
• Keep hold of your key brand asset.

6. Culture and Leadership Failures

Companies often fail internationally by confusing globalization with homogenization, while organizational success depends entirely on ethical executive leadership.

You invite disaster when you assume products successful in one market will effortlessly succeed in another without adapting to local cultures. Global companies frequently fail to realize that words carry entirely different meanings, slang, or offensive associations in local dialects. Pepsi translated its slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi generation" in Taiwan to mean "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead." Electrolux used the US slogan "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."

Kellogg's launched Corn Flakes in India in 1994, investing US $65 million for 950 million inhabitants and 250 million middle class. Indians traditionally ate hot vegetables for breakfast, found the 500-gram box priced a third more than its nearest competitor, and viewed it as a novelty purchase.

Cross-Cultural Missteps and Executive Hubris

You find that the fish rots from the head. The higher up an individual is within an organization, the more they represent the brand. Unethical behavior or arrogant public remarks by executives cascade down and ruin the entire enterprise. Enron, the 7th largest company in the US, collapsed due to massive accounting fraud and hidden debts orchestrated by top executives. Ratner's jewelry lost its market value overnight, dropping its share price from £2 to less than 8p after CEO Gerald Ratner publicly described his products as "total crap."

You must avoid cultural failures by applying concrete rules:

• Do your homework by conducting rigorous cultural and market research.
• Don't underestimate local competitors or assume the new market is a barren field.
• Remember that square pegs don't fit into round holes by localizing your product offerings.
• Don't try and make consumers strangers to their culture.

7. Rebranding Risks and Midlife Crises

Brands often face midlife crises when they fear looking old and stale. You might be tempted to chase a global identity or pursue future profits through drastic rebranding exercises. Doing so without careful consumer research or proper business rationale undermines previous marketing efforts and destroys historical value. Electricals retailer DSG announced plans to revert to its original 70-year-old Dixons brand name after previously jettisoning it in 2005 for DSG International to reflect its international reach across 13 countries following a 61 per cent jump in profits announced by DSG in June 2010.

Renaming National Institutions

Renaming a trusted national institution to an abstract corporate term alienates the public. The UK Post Office Group attempted to rebrand as Consignia on 9 January 2002 to reflect its expansion into logistics and international operations. The public ridiculed the name, viewing it as sounding like an antiperspirant or an electricity company. This damaged corporate credibility during a time when the 300-year-old institution was losing over £1 million a day during one month in 2001, leading chairman Allan Leighton to announce a U-turn in May 2002 to drop the name.

Abandoning a successful visual formula also carries steep risks. Tommy Hilfiger moved from a niche preppy brand to a global powerhouse by embracing urban hip-hop culture and a prominent red-white-and-blue logo. Panicking in 1999 led the brand to tone down the logo and chase high-end European chic, causing shares to fall from a US $40 per share high in May 2009 to a US $22.62 share price on New Year's Day 2000. Hilfiger launched expensive items like US $7,000 Red Label python-skin trousers and opened flagship stores on London's Bond Street and Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive, which failed to attract their younger core demographic.

8. Internet and Technology Pitfalls

Premature innovation, style over substance, and ignoring online criticism doom digital ventures and technology products.

Online brand development should focus on depth, loyalty, and repeat customers rather than chasing broad market share. The internet facilitates two-way communication and allows customers to talk to each other. Successful e-brands learn that building a community yields better cross-selling and personalized service opportunities. Amazon monitored its DVD Talk chat forum and immediately withdrew a trial variable pricing policy after spotting negative customer feedback.

Heavy spending on advertising and mascot gimmicks cannot save an online business model that lacks product differentiation and viable profit margins. Pets.com attempted to conquer the US pet market by spending massively on advertising, including Superbowl slots and a famous sock puppet marketing spokesdog, but suffered from paper-thin margins. The 1998 US pet category value reached US $23 billion, yet Pets.com spent over US $3.50 on marketing and sales expenses for every dollar it made in sales. The cost per customer acquisition reached about US $80 before the company shut down on 7 November 2000.

You must remember these rules when building digital brands:

• Differentiate your brand.
• Add value.
• Don't compete on cost.
• Don't rely on gimmicks.
• Recognize that emotion isn't enough.
• Have a strategy.

10 Key Ideas

1. Brand amnesia occurs when an old brand tries to create a radical new identity, distorting how a company views its market, competition, or identity.
2. The Coca-Cola Company underestimated public passion and the power of originality when they replaced original Coke with New Coke, triggering an immediate public boycott until executives restored the original drink.
3. Kellogg's Cereal Mates failed because it offered warm milk when consumers wanted cold milk, was priced too high, and ultimately was not convenient enough to eat while driving.
4. Harley Davidson estranged its core demographic and triggered accusations of Disneyfying the brand when it expanded its macho biker myth into mass merchandising, aftershaves, perfumes, and wine coolers.
5. Research shows that 95 per cent of respondents in a US survey were more offended by a company lying about a crisis than about the crisis itself, proving that complete honesty and rapid communication are essential.
6. Pepsi mistranslated its slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi generation" in Taiwan to mean "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead," demonstrating that companies fail internationally by ignoring local cultures.
7. Unethical behavior or arrogant public remarks by executives cascade down and ruin the entire enterprise, as seen when Ratner's jewelry lost its market value overnight after its CEO described his products as "total crap."
8. The UK Post Office Group attempted to rebrand as Consignia to reflect its expansion into logistics, but the public ridiculed the name, damaging corporate credibility and leading to a rapid U-turn.
9. Online brand development should focus on depth, loyalty, and repeat customers rather than chasing broad market share, because building a community yields better cross-selling and personalized service opportunities.
10. Pets.com attempted to conquer the US pet market by spending massively on advertising and a famous sock puppet marketing spokesdog, but the business model failed because it suffered from paper-thin margins and lacked proper product differentiation.