My roommates and I all cooked dinner together tonight, and when cleaning up, one of my roommates, a fellow business student, mentioned that we had a product under our sink that she learned about in a class as being a failed product attempt- Clorox Anywhere cleaner spray. This got me thinking… With so many products out there, what makes a product succeed or fail? Why are some ideas so harebrain, so successful, and some so simple, such failures? Do products that succeed all have something in common? Is unfamiliarity and novelty a marketing must or is it a recipe for disaster? I then decided to look into a few failed products to see if I could get some idea as to why these products fail.
On walletpop.com, there is a list of twenty five products that failed. Some noteworthy entries include Cosmopolitan yogurt, Life Savers soda, Coors bottled water, and Harley Davidson perfume. One explanation for some of these product flops is the fact that they were not logical brand extensions. No one wants to try Frito Lay lemonade. Although it seems likely that lemonade could be a substitute vending machine purchase of Frito Lay’s popular chips, consumers do not want to drink something that is made by the same company as Doritos. Things also did not work out when Colgate tried to make “Colgate Kitchen Meals.” Even though Colgate has strong brand recognition with toothpaste, the idea of a minty fresh meal just doesn’t sound appetizing. If Colgate had extended their brand to include floss, mouthwash, or even chewing gum, I would bet the results would have been more favorable.
Another reason products fail is that consumers use them in a different way than the manufacturers intended. I heard about a type of toothpaste that was put in an aerosol can and you were supposed to spray it on your tooth brush. It was supposed to make teeth brushing fun for kids, but the kids had too much fun with the toothpaste and sprayed it everywhere. I also heard about a cereal called “Wheaties Dunk-a-Balls” where the cereal was shaped like tiny basketballs. Children were throwing, passing, and dunking the cereal everywhere causing havoc for parents. One of my favorite failed products is “There’s a Monster in My Bedroom Spray,” which was bubble gum scented “montster spray.” The idea was cute, but it scared children into thinking there actually were monsters in their room so parents stopped buying it and it then flopped.
Some products fail because they are just not made well. Atari launched its ET: Extra Terrestrial video game and the coding was all off so the game was not fun to play. Other technology companies have suffered from this as well. If they are in a hurry to launch a new product, or their technology is too innovative, customers might be hesitant to catch on. A copycat company might actually succeed because they can get all the kinks out and allow their target market to get used to the idea of the product before they introduce it.
Whatever the reasons for product failures may be, they all have one thing in common: failure. Millions of dollars have been spent on research, development, production, marketing, and sales of these products. If we could get to the root of why they failed, then maybe we could avoid making these expensive mistakes.
On walletpop.com, there is a list of twenty five products that failed. Some noteworthy entries include Cosmopolitan yogurt, Life Savers soda, Coors bottled water, and Harley Davidson perfume. One explanation for some of these product flops is the fact that they were not logical brand extensions. No one wants to try Frito Lay lemonade. Although it seems likely that lemonade could be a substitute vending machine purchase of Frito Lay’s popular chips, consumers do not want to drink something that is made by the same company as Doritos. Things also did not work out when Colgate tried to make “Colgate Kitchen Meals.” Even though Colgate has strong brand recognition with toothpaste, the idea of a minty fresh meal just doesn’t sound appetizing. If Colgate had extended their brand to include floss, mouthwash, or even chewing gum, I would bet the results would have been more favorable.
Another reason products fail is that consumers use them in a different way than the manufacturers intended. I heard about a type of toothpaste that was put in an aerosol can and you were supposed to spray it on your tooth brush. It was supposed to make teeth brushing fun for kids, but the kids had too much fun with the toothpaste and sprayed it everywhere. I also heard about a cereal called “Wheaties Dunk-a-Balls” where the cereal was shaped like tiny basketballs. Children were throwing, passing, and dunking the cereal everywhere causing havoc for parents. One of my favorite failed products is “There’s a Monster in My Bedroom Spray,” which was bubble gum scented “montster spray.” The idea was cute, but it scared children into thinking there actually were monsters in their room so parents stopped buying it and it then flopped.
Some products fail because they are just not made well. Atari launched its ET: Extra Terrestrial video game and the coding was all off so the game was not fun to play. Other technology companies have suffered from this as well. If they are in a hurry to launch a new product, or their technology is too innovative, customers might be hesitant to catch on. A copycat company might actually succeed because they can get all the kinks out and allow their target market to get used to the idea of the product before they introduce it.
Whatever the reasons for product failures may be, they all have one thing in common: failure. Millions of dollars have been spent on research, development, production, marketing, and sales of these products. If we could get to the root of why they failed, then maybe we could avoid making these expensive mistakes.
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