I thought I would do something a little different for my 50th blog
and provide a year in review for 2013. Over my last 49 articles The Brand
Avenger has carefully dissected brand strategy, poor decision making and has
scrutinised the controversial areas that have led to outrage from the public.
However after spending so much time writing about the wrongdoings of many a
brand I simply wouldn't be doing justice without providing a proper review. For
the purposes of curiosity I would like to develop this further by providing a
breakdown of the top ten brands who should be most worried, brands who don't
need to worry despite some horrendous decision making and brands who might be
in some danger so are ones to watch in 2014.
All is fine despite some poor decisions
Over the year we have seen just as many
examples of poor branding decision-making from established brands as we have
seen from smaller, independent companies. One of the first companies we covered
for expenditure in celebrity endorsement as opposed to more measurable forms of
marketing was Nike. We criticised Google for lack of clarity over data
protection rules for email and was critical of Starbucks over tax evasion and
lack of ethical practice. Whereas these were all valid concerns it is clear
there are still some companies that have enough brand equity to not feel the
impact too harshly from poor decision making. Within this 'safe' group I would
place Channel 4, Adidas, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Coca-Cola on
top of Starbucks, Nike and Google. Whether it is all measurable and worthwhile
investment or not these companies are spending enough money to protect
themselves from the poor decisions. Their sheer size and market strength
protects them from feeling the repercussions of poor decisions making more so
than the more vulnerable companies in the market. It of course doesn't justify
poor decisions but does make it easier to protect against.
Ones to watch out for in 2014
If you have followed The Brand Avenger
blogs in 2013 you may have noticed some big brands are missing from the above
list. This is not to say these companies should worry about going out of
existence anytime soon but it does mean that the following need great years in
2014 as they have a lot to prove to the market.
My first brand to watch is UK insurance
comparison company Go Compare. The Brand Avenger covered this company in 2013
after it was revealed they had the most complaints for not one but two adverts
to the ASA in the UK. Now one could argue the brand managed to turn negativity
into smart and sensible strategy by evolving it's Go Compare advertising but
they will have to be extra careful in 2014 to not evoke the same emotional
reaction in the general public. It might be great every now and then to raise
awareness but it won't be long before the company starts to really annoy
customers and jeopardise sales.
Staying in the UK Gregg's was responsible
for some poor decision making in 2013 which wasn't helped by taxation and poor
weather. Although still a prominent name on the UK high street Gregg's will
need to ensure they stay on top of things this year and come up with new
innovative ways to meet the needs of a public with changing tastes and
perceptions of high calorie snacks.
The last two companies who need to have a
strong and steady 2014 are Apple and M&S.
M&S came under criticism for customer
service following the Halal controversy of Christmas although this wasn't the
least of the high street chains worries. Poor food sales and a competitive
retail market has led to real challenges for the big UK name. They will need to
get their head down in 2014 and focus on revival. HMV and Woolworth's are
examples of what can happen if you continue to get brand positioning wrong or
if you ignore changing trends in the market.
Apple have been here before. The weight of
expectation must sometimes be crippling however when you have a history of
innovation this is the risk you take. It is clear from the early criticism we
covered on Apple's innovation they need a big year strategically. The new CEO
will be under pressure to deliver so we will certainly be watching this one
closely.
The top ten worst brand impacts of 2013
And so all that is left to do is to cover
the worst branding decisions of 2013.
10) Asda-Walmart: Stack it high, sell it
cheap has long since been the motto for one of the biggest companies in the
world. But what we began to see in 2013 was a breakdown in the belief that
price is king. Asda-Walmart came under particular scrutiny regarding its
treatment of staff. Adding this to a poor performance in the market and you
really have to question how long the powerhouse can continue to support the
notion that customer loyalty and retention is not as important as managing the
bottom line.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/asda-wal-mart-having-had-much-to-be.html
9) Ryanair: In the Summer we released a
blog with a somewhat provocative title claiming that although Ryaniar doesn't
care about customers this works fine for their brand strategy.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/ryanair-doesnt-care-about-customers-and.html
Now if you have recently viewed the
Youtube clip of the dramatic 8 hour delay of the February 14th Ryanair flight
from Stansted to Porto you might be inclined to believe that Ryanair doesn't
care about customers at all. But for a long time now it is clear that Ryanair
has managed to get away with a lack of customer service through positioning
themselves as a market leader in low prices.
2013 Has already brought about a renewed
emphasis on customer service from the Irish brand. If they want to ensure long-term
success it will be crucial for them to continue this. However if they continue
to get negative publicity from social media and scrutiny from regulatory bodies
they might be putting themselves in real danger.
8) MySpace: I would see MySpace as a work
in progress despite an unsure future prior to 2013.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/flogging-dead-horse-can-myspace-rise.html
Their might still be some life in the old
horse yet if Justin Timberlake can work his magic and utilise his music connections.
The repositioning of the brands to become more of a creative network for music
artists appears to be bringing new life to the brand. However this type of
repositioning is very hard to make scalable so it will be interesting to see
how the powers at be can continue to grow the brand. I wouldn't expect it to
reach the lofty heights it had done so before though.
7) Wonga: What a year for this UK
short-term loan provider. On one hand you have a company that is making record
profits and is in a clear period of growth. In the other you have a company
which is scrutinised for exploiting the poor and high profile figures such as
the Archbishop claiming to be coming after you.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/should-wonga-be-worried-about-its-brand.html
This is not so much a worry about the
performance but more so about the context and conditions. Whether or not this
will be sustainable will mostly come down to how well (or how poorly) Wonga
manage its public perception.
6) EA should find themselves very
fortunate that they can be mentioned twice in Brand Avenger articles, can be
nominated for worst company in the year two years running in the US and still
be outside the top 5 of worst brand decisions.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/a-twenty-something-male-strolls-down.html
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/is-ea-sports-worst-company-in-us-or.html
There is a reason for The Brand Avenger's
decision to keep out of the top 5 and it is all down to the emotional reaction.
EA impact on a large number of engaged and socially media active consumers and
so I would argue it is easier for the company to face scrutiny than other
brands. There are clearly poor strategic decisions that are being made but can
we truly state that a company performing as financially strongly as EA is a
company in danger of extinction?
5) Yahoo: Sales were on the rise in August
but perception was suffering.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/is-yahoos-brand-reputation-on-rise-or.html
While it is clear Yahoo have made some
massive strides in acquiring brands that will help stimulate long-term growth
there are still questions that remain over the strength of the brand. Recent
results show positive signs for the future especially when you consider mobile
usage but when you consider customers are still turning away from utilising
search engine functionality and Google continues to dominate the market you
can't help but feel nervous for the big Y.
4) Abercrombie: A disaster year which has led
to wide-scale criticism and the public demotion of key senior leaders. When the
former CEO decided to chip in with his thoughts on who should be wearing
Abercrombie he did more to damage the company in one sentence than many
competitors have done by any other means in years.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/are-woes-of-abercrombie-fitch.html
I still don't see a revival for
Abercrombie. All I can say is even if they don't believe in plus size shirts I
hope they sell shoes above a certain size because it's going to take a larger
than normal trainer to fit the big old foot in Abercrombie's mouth.
3) Groupon: We have seen positive signs
under the new CEO however the company continues to struggle when it comes to
its position in the market
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/brands-behaving-bady.html
This is going to a big year for the
discount voucher site. They need to get their mobile strategy right and
understand the right deals to provide their customer base with a positive feeling
for the discounter. Failure to do this could result in a nasty decline for a
once promising start-up.
2) Billabong: In October we asked want
went wrong with Billabong however maybe we should have asked what continues to
go wrong for the clothing company?
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/what-went-wrong-with-billabong.html
It's going to take a massive effort and a
clear and concise brand recovery plan to save this Aussie export from
extinction in the coming years. For a company that has has such a strong
standing for so long you have to question where it all began to go so wrong.
1) Blackberry: And so finally we get to
number one. The brand that has suffered more than any other this year following
poor strategic decision making.
http://brandavenger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/kicking-habit-crack-berry-users-just.html
Blackberry had such a strong position and
a clear advantage when it came to their association as the business phone of
choice. But somewhere along the road as smartphones continued to rise in the
market Blackberry has just lost itself along the way. 2014 s going to be a long
hard year for the Canadian company. They need to come up with a strategy and
come up with one fast. It isn't out of all possibility that by 2015 they could
be completely out of the mobile market at this rate.
