The Website 24/7 Wall St. has come out with its list of 10 big-time American brands predicted to be no longer marketing by 2013. The list says a lot of about the relentless nature of having to build a brand even when the product is as motionless as a possum. Or, the product may be gang-busters ubiquitous, but consumers have found out they can get it cheaper, with greater variety and better customer service, someplace else. We’re looking at you, Best Buy.
Incredibly, Best Buy did not make 24/7 Wall St.’s list of the soon-to-be-forgotten. Perhaps Best Buy’s new strategy of turning their one thriving consumer electronics business into an activation service for cell phone manufacturers is paying off.
For the record, 24/7 sees a sayanara in the future for American Airlines, which is already bankrupt. If American merged with Delta or US Airways, this would not be big news. Research in Motion is also predicted to be ‘86ed, which should be a warning to us all: remember in 2009 when the President of the United States was said to run the Oval Office from his Blackberry? That was before the numerous service interruptions that killed the Oval Office buzz. Haven’t heard much about Obama’s Blackberry lately.
Also on the list is Current TV, which was already a laggard in a competitive field, up against CNN (which itself is suffering record low ratings) and MSNBC. What does Current provide that consumers can’t get on more popular cable news channels?
Other brands on the predicted to be departed list, like Pacific Sunwear (NADAQ: PSUN) or American Apparel couldn’t keep the capital flowing long enough to hang in during a recession that many think is still with us.
Sometimes companies are overtaken by change and simply cannot recover. 24/7 notes that the Sony Ericsson and Nokia cell phone businesses is essentially over, and the market is controlled by Apple and Google (Android brand). Sony Ericsson and Nokia are in the cutting-edge telecommunications business, but they didn’t get the message.
This year’s nearly departed list includes Avon (old business model, poor management), Metro PCS (with AT&T and Verizon warring, this telecom carrier can’t get acquired?), Suzuki Autos (ever hear of a Hyundai?), and Talbots, a retailer of less than trendy women’s clothes.
Why does anyone invest in brick and mortar storefronts? They are susceptible to the wildest whims of consumers, a perception that they’re not hip or happening anymore. Given the time pressures to get the latest rags from design to foreign factory to discount outlet, and the competition, the margins must be miniscule. I do not want to lose my shirt because someone didn’t anticipate the latest hat. Humbug.
Why do we care? Each of the companies on the 24/7 list is a cautionary tale about what to avoid in your business. Note that the bigger the business, the more difficult it is to turn it around, like the Titanic. Small and nimble is a good place to be in this environment. In fact, poorly run companies are likely to have equally bad marketing and brand merchandise efforts, since they lack direction. If the company doesn’t have its act together, how can it hope to convince consumers to make its “vision” part of their lives?
