A BRAND IS

FOREVERFramework to revitalize declining and

dead brands

Brand decline is a reversible process.

Examples of revived brands:

● Harley Davidson● Ford Taurus

REVIVAL OF A DEAD BRAND

DECLINE AND DEATH OF BRANDS➢ Power of brand lies in its equity.➢ Brand equity: “The differential effect that consumer knowledge about a

brand has on the customer’s response to marketing activity.”➢ Brand equity may decline with the passage of time, sometimes leading to a

brand’s demise.➢ Declined Brands:

Pan Am, GM Oldsmobile

Pan American Airways:

➢ Pan Am was an iconic American brand.➢ 1988, airliner crash in Scotland eventually led to the brand

decline.➢ Primary cause of death: Negative Publicity

GM Oldsmobile:

➢ Flagship brand known for great designs.➢ Causes for death:

1. Perception as an old brand2. Uniformity in design across different brands lost the unique

identity.

CAUSES OF BRAND DECLINE

The Product life cycle (PLC) framework:

➢ Introduction➢ Growth➢ Maturity➢ Decline

PEC FRAMEWORK

➢ Evolved form of PLC framework, is the PEC framework ➢ Brands can survive by evolving.

PEC: ➢ Generative Force: Managerial force➢ Selective Force: Market Environment➢ Mediative Force: Competitor’s actions

MANAGERIAL ACTIONS➢ Product quality➢ Price increases➢ Price costs➢ Brand neglect➢ Inability to stay with target market

PRODUCT QUALITY:➢ Compromises in product quality affects the brand loyalty in the long run.

PRICE INCREASES AND CUTS:➢ If the prices are raised continuously without corresponding benefits, it leads

to brand abandoning.➢ When prices are cut in desperation to increase sales, it can damage the

brand

BRAND NEGLECT:➢ Popularity, organisational shakedowns etc could lead to brand neglect and

eventual decline. (Brands need constant nurturing)

INABILITY TO STAY WITH TARGET MARKETS:➢ When the target market moves away from the brand, it leads to decline.

Volkswagen

➢ Increasing prices led to decline of the Volkswagen Golf model.

Lacoste

➢ Price cuts led to the decline of the Lacoste brand. ➢ Decline in sales led to decreasing the prices, which led to

lower quality and brand death.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:➢ Markets are dynamic, influenced by the operating

environment.➢ Necessary investments must be made when an environment

change is detected.➢ Companies like Kodak managed to adapt according to the

changing environment while Polaroid lost its value.

Polaroid➢ Polaroid, popular in instant photography, lost out in the

market with the advent of digital photography.

Kodak

➢ Kodak, leading photography brand, recognized the environmental changes and introduced digital cameras to the market.

➢ This helped to maintain a market share of 16% thus saving the brand from death.

COMPETITIVE ACTIONS:➢ A brand faces relentless onslaught from its competitors.➢ Newer competitors are frequently nimble, they introduce new

technologies etc.

Puma, Adidas, Nike and Reebok:

➢ Puma and Adidas are brands that declined due to intense competition.

➢ Nike nearly wiped out Adidas in the US market (60% to 3% market share drop)

DECONSTRUCTING BRAND DECLINE:The three key elements of brand equity are:

1.) Differential effect2.) Brand knowledge3.) Customer response

DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT:

Marketers should succeed in convincing customers that their brand has something different to offer.

This will bring a differential effect of the brand knowledge on consumers’ behaviour.

Chevron

➢ Chevron, popular gasoline company, created differentiation in the market for their brand by using the name of an additive called Techron.

BRAND KNOWLEDGE:

Brand Awareness: If brand awareness falls, it leads to long term problems.

Brand image:

➢ It is important to maintain a “strong, favourable, and unique” brand image.

➢ Image needs to be monitored. More challenging and expensive to track.

CUSTOMER RESPONSE:

➢ Customer response is a sure index to know if a brand is declining.

➢ When brand switching increases, one can be sure that the brand value is decreasing.

REVITALIZING BRANDS:With proper diagnosis, strategy and execution, a brand can be revived.

Following guidelines should be kept in mind:

1. Is the brand worth reviving?2. Take a long term perspective.3. Carefully reposition the brand, invest and educate the

market.4. Correct mismanagement of the brand.

IS THE BRAND WORTH REVIVING?

➢ A brand is worth reviving if there is significant residual value in one or more of the components of brand equity.

➢ A brand audit can help. ➢ Equally important to determine the realistic amount of

investment needed.

TAKE A LONG TERM PERSPECTIVE:

➢ Most brands take a long time to build, and a long time to die. Revival is also long term.

➢ It is important to address the causes of the brand decline, understand the brand’s promise, why it may have failed and to make the corrections.

CAREFULLY REPOSITION THE TARGET MARKET:

➢ If a brand is not viewed as unique as compared to others in the market, its future growth is questionable.

➢ Strong brand differentiation can be re established with a focus on the right positioning.

CORRECT THE MISMANAGEMENT OF THE BRAND1. Rebuild quality.

2. Resist temptation to “milk” the brand.3. Pursue a carefully defined target market.

REBUILD QUALITY:

➢ Compromise on quality might work in the short run, but poor quality will not go unnoticed eventually.

➢ Emphasis should be made on the product quality if brand revival is to be done.

RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO MILK THE BRAND➢ Instead of milking the brand, the management should focus

on investing in the brand.

PURSUE A CAREFULLY DESIGNED TARGET MARKET:

➢ Carefully define a target market and focus on the market. ➢ One has to make a choice between switching the target

markets and staying on the same target market. ➢ Its very difficult to appeal to divergent targets with the same

brand.

SUMMING UP..

➢ Managers need to constantly watch for signs of brand decline, in the form of problems with brand knowledge, differentiation and customer response.

➢ Using a brand equity framework, most brands with high levels of awareness or positive brand image are candidates for revival.

DISCLAIMER:

"These slides were created by Shine Ali, as part of an internship done under the guidance of Prof. Sameer Mathur (www.IIMInternship.com)"