When established brands looks to be on the way down, it’s easy to give up on them and look for the next big thing. However, everybody loves a good comeback story and these three brands have shown how good products can never be counted out.
These three brands once dominated their corner of the markets, meaning that customers still have good memories of their presence. A big part of their comeback surely comes from nostalgia, now aided by a more relevant messaging campaign that better connects them with their fans.
1. Old Spice
This brand had next to nothing going for it since sales slumped in the mid-2000s (and much sooner here in Asia): its scent profile was too old school, and it was an aftershave, not a cologne. It was unfortunate that it also had ‘Old’ in its name…
Then Proctor & Gamble decided to remind (American) buyers what Old Spice truly is, which by this time had widened the brand’s products to include bodywash. Among their greatest move was to sign Wieden+Kennedy (creator of Nike’s Just Do It campaign) to handle their advertising. The new direction was to shift to a new target market – young men, and surprisingly, ladies. The latter because the ad agency found that 60 per cent of body wash purchases are made by women.
Wieden+Kennedy’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” TV ad which was first aired during the 2010 Super Bowl became a hit. It was everything Old Spice needed to be: young, funny, and relatable.
This was followed by 186 video responses to fans and celebrities based on questions posted on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and more. The result? Within a few months, sales of the Red Zone body wash had doubled, and their image updated. Lesson: Know your buyers (who may not be the same as the users’) and deliver your product message using the relevant language. And follow any breakthrough with additional marketing and advertising efforts.
2. LEGO
A top Lego executive said that around 2004, the company was “almost bankrupt” following consecutive losses from the late 1990s. Part of the problem was children had options when it comes to playtime (video games, for instance). Then in came Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, the company’s first CEO not from the founding Kristiansen family.
Changes introduced at that time included disposing off ownership of four Legoland theme parks and forming strategic licensing partnerships with numerous movie franchises —as a matter of fact, it was their first licensing deal with Star Wars which was most successful, although it wasn’t enough to get them out of trouble. Further licensing deals with other movies and characters — namely Harry Potter, Batman, Indiana Jones, and Toy Story, among others, helped to truly turn the company around.
Together with the success of the Lego Movie franchise, the company has beat Mattel and Hasbro as the most profitable toymaker in the world. Along with it, Lego has clout — who else DC Comics would have allowed to take an iconic superhero character such as Batman and turned it into a bumbling, awkward goof?
Today, Lego is enjoyed by children and adults, maintains a very active social media presence (theirs is the most popular brand channel on YouTube), runs an active online community of 10 million members where children can share photos of their Lego creations (Lego Life; and Lego Ideas for adults), and readiness to widen their scope of collaboration (e.g., Minecraft) Lesson: Know your strengths and keep them updated and fresh. Keep a high level of engagement with fans, and listen to their ideas.
3. Polaroid
Polaroids once ruled the market with its instant photos. Sure, normal film cameras produced better quality and colors, with images could be resized and cross-processed, but waiting for days before actually getting them back from the shop was a downer. Digital photography (and later on, mobile phone photography which delivered convenience and high-quality images) made film photography redundant. However, Polaroids offered the magic of frozen images being developed right in your hands. It was, in its own special way, quicker than digital photography.
It had other advantages — first, the cool factor. There is no other sound like the mechanical gearing which rolled out polaroid films out of the camera. The newer versions may not sound quite the same but it’s still better than the silence of swiping and pinching on phone screens.
Second, Polaroids are truly part of pop culture. From Goose’s shot at the start of Top Gun (while inverted!), its mischievous use in Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator, and more recently for its use in Netflix’s Stranger Things series. Of course, we’d need to mention Outkast’s song, Hey Ya! too. Lesson: Being retro has its benefits. Here, Polaroid retained the basic shape of the classic Polaroid cameras, but upgraded the quality. Be true to your brand and take advantage of whatever positives that present itself.
