Having spent over 30 years in the field of branding and marketing, Karen Post is a sought after speaker on topics of marketing. She became the first female American speaker to address the Saudi Arabian Airlines national conference in 2011. Her work has benefited diverse industries – from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies – including Albemarle, ACNielsen, Choice International, Cox Cable and Media, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Chevron, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, Xerox, Sara Lee, Pepsi, and Procter & Gamble along with many emerging businesses, trade associations, professional athletes, entertainers, and politicians.
History is littered with examples of brands that met untimely deaths. Chiclets, Coke’s Tab, TWA, National, TDK et al. What are the main reasons why companies kill brands?
There are many reasons why the plug gets pulled. They include: when the math no longer works, the firms run out of money, labour issues that disrupt the company’s functioning and earn the brand a bad name, market share decline of the brand, executives go to jail, when the brand falls out of favour with social trends. For instance, Borders bookstores, took their eye off the digital wave and got in bed with their competitor Amazon. Twinkies is another example. At present, there are some more brands in danger of getting eliminated like BlackBerry and retailers like JC Penny and Sears.
Is any brand immune from a brand shake-up?
No brand, be it a company – big or small – personality, nonprofit or product, is immune from a brand shake-up. In life and in business there are so many uncontrollable events and situations that can manifest into a monumental crisis, disaster and pubic relations nightmare without notice on any given day. Some brands recover and thrive and others are defeated or scarred for a long time. A brand shake-up or meltdown can be the result of human error, bad judgment, an accident, an act of nature or just bad luck. And what makes it really scary is in this day and age of 24/7, real-time global media and Internet coverage, even a small mom-and-pop operation that sells to a very niche market can be thrust on an international stage in a matter of seconds should their number be called after an unfortunate event.
Every week it seems like some big brand or personality is in the news because of scandal, a product recall or seriously bad judgment. Of the brands you’ve seen come back to glory, what separates the winners from the losers? What matters is not what hits your brand upside the head, but rather how you get back in the game. As mentioned in my book, ‘Brand Turnaround’, I introduce seven game changers that made the difference in some of the most esteemed brand comebacks. That’s where I recommend brands start, whether you are small start-up or a big multinational corporation. This series of disciplines has proven to be pivotal in turning many brands around. Game Changer 1: Take Responsibility; Game Changer 2: Never Give Up; Game Changer 3: Lead Strong; Game Changer 4: Stay Relevant; Game Changer 5: Keep Improving; Game Changer 6: Build Equity; and Game Changer 7: Own Your Distinction.
How has social media impacted brands, especially when they are in trouble?
Social media can be a brand’s best friend or most dangerous nemesis. It comes down to preparation and understanding what it is and is not.
