Marketing makes the business world go around. Sometimes though, marketing can do more harm for your brand than good. Even the biggest companies have learned this lesson the hard way. Click here to see 5 famous marketing fails!
Companies invest millions of dollars in marketing campaigns. They invest even more in rebranding their company.
About 18 years ago, BP re-branded with a shiny new logo that cost 4.5 million GBP in market research alone. They spent much more (rumored to be 211 million) on the design and re-branding campaign.
It got worse after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, where people replaced the logo with streaks of oil.
That’s why most people are shocked when marketing fails badly.
It makes you wonder who the ad executive was who came up with the idea. Then you wonder who in their right mind would approve an idea.
Marketing fails are entertaining, but there are lessons that you can learn from them, too. Keep reading to learn the top five fails and what you can do to avoid those costly mistakes.
1. Gap
The Gap brand has a number of things going for it. It’s synonymous with a classic, timeless style. The logo itself was timeless.
That’s why people fell over themselves when Gap tried to update the logo in 2010. It’s hard to believe that it was eight years ago, but this still mentioned as one of the worst rebrands of all time.
It turns out that designers were outraged by the use of Helvetica in 2010. They were also in disbelief that the company used gradient squares that had nothing to do with the classic look and feel of the brand.
The reason why The Gap’s rebrand went south is that they had a ton of brand equity in that logo. They didn’t recognize that and instead of improving on what was already there, they tried to create something completely new.
There was no need to do so and there was no consistency with the old brand.
2. WhyIStayed
One of the early lessons of boosting your brand on Twitter was to jump on trending hashtags and make them your own.
For the most part, this strategy worked well for companies that jumped on fun hashtags that everyone was tweeting about, like the Super Bowl or the Olympics.
There are more serious hashtags that companies have jumped on that didn’t go so well.
DiGiorno Pizza totally blew it.
In 2014, in wake of a video showing NFL player Ray Rice beating his girlfriend in an elevator, the hashtags #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft were movements to spotlight domestic violence.
Some genius at DiGiorno didn’t bother to look at the meaning of the hashtags. They just thought they’d jump on the bandwagon to promote themselves.
The infamous tweet “#WhyIStayed You had pizza.” was a massive fail.
Thousands of people responded in kind.
The company later apologized for the tweet and not reading what it was about before posting.
3. New Coke
Don’t mess with a good thing.
About 33 years ago, Coca-Cola did the unthinkable. They changed their product formula in April 1985. Coke was the number one product at the time, but it was losing ground to rival Pepsi.
As a response, they changed their classic formula and created New Coke. Coke executives thought that it was a sure winner.
It turned out to be a massive fail. Coke drinkers were angry at the company for changing its winning formula.
The press was relentless at bashing the company for changing the product.
Within two months, the company shifted its strategy to make both products available.
Consumers could buy New Coke or Coke Classic. New Coke is no longer produced in the U.S., so you can guess how that went.
4 Just for Feet Super Bowl Ad
In 1999, athletic shoe company Just for Feet created a $10 million advertisement that was probably one of the biggest horror stories in Super Bowl Ad History.
The ad featured white military guys in a Humvee tracking down a barefoot Kenyan runner. They capture him, force him to drink something that makes him pass out. They then forced a pair of Nike shoes on his feet.
The ad was viewed as racist and insensitive.
Remember that this ad caused outrage years before social media. Imagine the impact social media would have had on this campaign.
The ad was so bad, Just for Feet sued its creative agency.
5 IHOB
Speaking of don’t mess with a good thing, the folks at IHOP failed to take note. For weeks, the company teased that they were changing its name to IHOB.
They left consumers guessing what the B stood for. Since IHOP is the International House of Pancakes, it’s, most assumed it was related to pancakes. Maybe it was International House of Bacon or Breakfasts.
No one could guess what it really stood for. Burgers.
Yep, IHOP wanted to promote their new burgers, so they’re temporarily changing the name to IHOB. International House of Burgers.
The problem with that is that it confused many people. They wondered if IHOP was going to continue to serve pancakes.
Burger King and Wendy’s jumped on the bandwagon with savage tweets.
Yes, people were talking about the change, but it was out of confusion and disbelief.
Tips for Redesigning a Logo
What are the marketing lessons for your company out of these classic failures? The biggest lesson in redesigning a logo is continuity.
Your logo has brand equity, meaning that your audience is emotionally invested in your business.
Take the best parts of your old logo and include them in your new one.
Get inspiration from your company’s past.
Keep it clean and simple.
Focus on the most important colors.
These guidelines are a few ways you can keep your company from being one of the famous logo fails.
Learn from the Top Marketing Fails
Beating up on the top marketing fails has become a sort of sport on social media. Take Twitter, for example. All it takes is one wrong move and your marketing investment is dead in the water.
That’s doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take risks in your marketing campaigns. The thing to remember is to do your homework and keep your audience in mind. Also you can be Interested in using a template logo to cut costs in terms of hiring a graphic designer. If you’re lazy and try to cut corners, there’s an online mob that’s ready to pounce on your errors.
Just use common sense, and your marketing campaigns will flourish.
For more great marketing tips, check out our blog.
