Brand Failures_ The Truth About the 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Time - Matt Haig [84]
78 British Airways
When British Airways went through an expensive rebranding exercise in 1996, it couldn’t have picked a worse time. The media contrasted the costly makeover with the ‘cost-saving’ redundancies announced shortly afterwards.
There was also criticism about the nature of the new identity. The airline had abandoned the Union Jack colours on the tail-fin, and replaced them with a series of different images representing a more international identity. Many saw this move as unpatriotic, and Richard Branson, boss of the company’s arch-rival Virgin Atlantic, was quick to rub salt in the wounds by painting Union Jacks on his aircraft and using British Airways’ former ‘Fly the Flag’ slogan. It wasn’t long before British Airways scrapped the new and expensive tail-fin designs. Ironically, US customers and partners had stated to complain that they wanted Britain’s flagship airline to look more British.
79 MicroPro
Remember MicroPro? In the 1980s, and even at the beginning of the 1990s, MicroPro made leading word processing software product, WordStar. The program was even heralded as ‘one of the greatest single software efforts in the history of computing’ by the widely respected technology expert, John C Dvorak.
Because of the popularity of the WordStar product, MicroPro rebranded themselves WordStar International. This move proved to be a major mistake. ‘The new brand identity proved immediately self-limiting,’ explains advertising copywriter John Kuraoka, in a white paper on branding. ‘As WordStar International, the company was poorly positioned to keep up with changes in the computer industry – such as the rise of integrated software bundles that were the predecessors to today’s Microsoft Office. Note that Microsoft never became “Windows International”.’ The WordStar name had quickly become an albatross around the company’s neck. Between 1988 and 1993 the company struggled to find new ways to continue selling variations of the WordStar product. The rise of competitors such as Word Perfect and, later, Microsoft Word, led to WordStar’s corresponding and rapid decline.
Chapter Ten
Internet and new technology failures
On the internet, brand failure has become the norm. Those companies that somehow manage to make a profit are considered freaks, while those that struggle month by month to stay alive are applauded for their efforts.
Such has been the lasting impact of the dot.com fallout which occurred at the turn of the millennium, the quickest way a brand can devalue its name is to add ‘.com’ to the end of it. Yet paradoxically, those brands that ignore the internet are also placing their reputations in jeopardy.
Just as the internet is now a part of life, so it must be a part of brand-building. The danger is to treat it as an entirely separate entity rather than simply as another communications medium or sales channel. Of course, the internet does have unique characteristics, which need to be acknowledged. It facilitates two-way communication. It also enables consumers with a grudge to spread their anti-brand message in a way not possible with traditional one-way media. Most significantly, it levels out the playing field. Competitors large and small, wherever they happen to be located, are within equal reach.
Due to the democratic nature of the internet, even the smallest of companies can eventually become the biggest brands. This is because having a unique approach is far more effective than spending millions on online and offline advertising. Furthermore, because of the immediacy of the internet the value of a great concept can be spread around the world in a matter of minutes.
Whereas for the industrial age choice meant ‘any colour so long as it’s black’, on the internet users are presented with a kaleidoscopic range of possibilities. When Brand X fails to deliver, Brand Y