Gerber - Singles

Some companies do have the right idea, only it just doesn't come up at the right time... Or with the right shape.
In 1974, Gerber, a baby food enterprise, tries to extend its brand to the adult food market. Willing not to spend too much money in new manufacturing tools or in brand re-positioning, Gerber decided that the niche market of the single living adults would suit its expertise. Single people don't need to buy a lot of food at the same time, they only need small portions. And this is how Gerber launched a baby-food-jar similar product range for adults. I have to admit that they thought about that very carefully, since nothing is omitted : vegetables, appetizers, mashed potatoes and meat, desserts... You could truly feed you with that single brand.

The for-adults-baby-jars

Thing is that the company didn't think about the consumer's motivation. Why would this single 35 years olds man buy this product ? So that he remembers that he is alone ? Or that, as he is single, he cannot be seen as an accomplished adult ? Or that not only he is single but he also doesn't have friends to go out and eat with ? The product range didn't work at all and has quickly been removed form the shelves. No need to ask if Gerber did a market research before its launch. If it had done that maybe it could have been one of today's leader in the single-portion food, in plastic or aluminium package, that are made for busy people...

Moral of the story : The end justifies the means... Or maybe not !

Harley-Davidson - Perfume

When someone asks you to think about a good motocycle, you have two solutions: to think about a japanese brand, or to think about an american brand. Would you think about Yamaha, or rather Harley-Davidson ?
Well, whatever was your answer, today is about the american brand, which is responsible for a wonderful and full-of-lessons failure.
Harley-Davidson's customers are extremely loyal to the brand due to its values: liberty, authenticity, power, testosterone. This brand has an iconic stature, and many customers even have the brand's logo tattooed on their body. In a noticeable logic, Harley-Davidson's marketers thought that if customers were that loyal, then they could buy tons of derived products. Starting from baby clothes to ties and lighters, Harley-Davidson developped a whole range of derived products that had nothing to do with the original product.
In the 90's, the motocycle brand finally crossed the red line when it launched the Harley-Davidson perfume and aftershave range. The purist fans strated to accuse the brand of "disneyfication" and to believe that Harley-Davidson was fallen into the "more products = more purchases" trap. Isn't that the worst thing that could happen for a supposed authentic brand ?

Does anyone see the authentic biker in this ad ? No one ? Great, me neither.

However Harley-Davidson didn't suffer that much from this mistake, which has finally been recognized and corrected by the company.
In 2014, the brand's market share was 57% in th US, with an increase of 20,5% in Asia and 8,2% for Europe. It is still the leader in front of Ducati, Suzuki, or Triumph.

Morale of the story: All that glitters is not gold !